At 115 pounds, a size zero, her muscles cut, 41-year-old Dwanna Swain looks naturally fit.
"It's really nice because I don't have to, because I don't have to work out for it," she said.
She's a medical marvel.
"I was born without any fat on my body. It may not look good as a child, but as an adult it's like 'wow!'"
Dr. Abhimanyu Garg is one of the world's leading experts of lipodystrophy. Dwanna was his first case 25 years ago.
"If we eat about 2000 calories a day, this child may be eating 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day," he said.
Dr. Garg says for people with the disease, fat goes to the liver.
"They develop diabetes very early in their life, most of them during the teenage years. They have a large liver because their liver is filled with fat and it damages them as they grow," he said.
Under Dr. Garg's direction, Dwanna's diabetes is now under control. Even though she can eat whatever she wants without gaining an inch, she chooses an extremely low-fat, vegetarian diet for her health.
Forty-two-year-old Stephanie Lyon has partial lipodystrophy. Her body has the signature characteristics: lean muscular arms and legs. Unlike Dwanna, Stephanie does gain weight in her face and stomach.
"You can't judge a book by its cover. They don't understand all of the medical complications that are going on when they look at me," she said.
Doctor Garg says it's hard to pinpoint how many people have lipodystrophy because so many people go undiagnosed.
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