ARVADA, Colo. -- When you're hungry you eat. When you're full, you stop.  If you have Prader-Willi syndrome it doesn't quite work that way. 

Rose Medical Center says Prader-Willi syndrome affects one out of every 15,000 births.  For children with the syndrome, parents say there's no connection between the brain and the stomach so they can eat themselves to death. 

When 4-year-old Jaeda was born, her parents had no idea anything was wrong. 

"All of my pregnancy tests were normal.  It was just completely bizarre," said Jaeda's mother, Laura Drotar.

After dozens of tests, doctors told the family that Jaeda was suffering from Prader-Willi syndrome, which affects the appetite.  The family immediately started working with doctors at Rose Medical Center to find ways to help Jaeda live with the syndrome.

Children with the syndrome won't know they're full and will keep eating and eating and eating.

"There's no connection between the brain and the stomach, so these children will literally eat themselves to death," said Drotar.

Doctors say there is no cure and the syndrome is permanent.  It's caused by a defect of the 15th chromosome.  Babies born with Prader-Willi syndrome will often have low muscle tone and therefore, poor feeding habits.

"The baby is very floppy and has trouble eating.  They lack muscle tone in the mouth so it's difficult to suck," said Dr. Pam Gewinner, Rose Medical Center.

The syndrome not only affects weight and muscle tone, but it can also affect the brain.

"The weight gain is inversely proportional to the IQ.  If you get a better hold on the weight gain, that usually results in an improvement in the IQ," said Gewinner.