Prognosis
The average life expectancy of an individual with any type of XP and no neurological symptoms is approximately 37 years, and 29 years if neurological symptoms are present.In the United States, the probability for individuals with the disorder to survive until 40 years of age may be as high as 70% if they have never been exposed to sunlight in their life.In India, many patients with XP die at an early age from skin cancers. However, if a person is diagnosed early, does not have severe neurological symptoms, and takes precautionary measures to completely avoid any exposure to UV light and sunlight, they may be able to survive until middle age. History
Xeroderma pigmentosum was first described in 1874 by Hebra and Moritz Kaposi. In 1882, Kaposi coined the term xeroderma pigmentosum for the condition, referring to its characteristic dry, pigmented skin.The 1968 paper about XP by James Cleaver demonstrated the link between UV-induced DNA damage, faulty DNA repair and cancer. Culture
Because people with XP need to strictly avoid sunlight, but can go outside at night, they have been called children of the dark, children of the night, and vampire children. These terms can be considered derogatory.XP has been a plot element in several fictional works.
One of the common themes in films about XP is whether teens with XP will risk sun exposure in pursuit of a romantic partner.Film series like Children of Darkness, a German silent-drama film which was released in two parts in the year of 1921 and 1922 respectively, was among some of the initially popular movies that was made about XP. Other films, like the 1964 American drama film Della, starring Joan Crawford, Paul Burke, Charles Bickford and Diane Baker, directed by Robert Gist, which was originally produced by Four Star Television as a television pilot for a proposed NBC series named Royal Bay, was also based on this skin disease. The Dark Side of the Sun, a 1988 American-Yugoslavian drama film, was directed by Božidar Nikolić and stars Brad Pitt for his first ever leading role as a young man in search of a cure for his disorder. The Others (2001 film), a 2001 American  psychological horror film starring Nicole Kidman, features two children, Anne and Nicholas, who must avoid all sunlight because of a rare disease characterized by photosensitivity. A CBS television movie aired in 1994, Children of the Dark, was based on the story of the real-life couple Jim and Kim Harrison, whose two daughters have XP.Lurlene McDaniels young adult book How I Do Love Thee features the story "Night Vision", in which the protagonist, leukemia survivor Brett, falls in love with a girl named Shayla that has XP.