Hello All,
This week is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness and it is a week to talk about and celebrate all the progress we have made as an organization (ie, the United Mitochondrial Disease Association ) in research and raising awareness about Mitochondrial Disease. All of my social media accounts (Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Instagram) have had daily and twice daily updates.
Here we go! Some Mito Basics…
💚
Every 30 minutes, a child is born who will develop a Mitochondrial Disease by age 10. Each year, 1,000 to 4,000 children in the United States are born with a Mitochondrial Disease.
💚
Mitochondria are present in nearly every cell in our bodies. They are responsible for producing over 90% of the energy needed to sustain life. Mitochondrial Diseases result from the failure of these tiny “powerhouses.” When the mitochondria fail, less and less energy is generated and cells stop performing and start to die. As this process repeats itself throughout the body whole systems begin to fail and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised and ultimately leads to death.
💚
Mitochondrial Disease can be very difficult to diagnose because symptoms can arise in almost any part of the body. Often the first indicators are problems with organs that need a lot of energy like the brain, heart, muscles, and stomach but any organ can be involved. Generally, if three or more organ systems are involved Mitochondrial Disease should be considered.
💚
You can not catch Mitochondrial Disease–you are born with it. Mitochondrial Disease is a genetic condition which means it’s caused by an error in your DNA. This error prevents a vital gene from doing’ the job it needs to do. The error may have arisen for the first time in the affected person or it might have been passed down through the family. One in 200 people are born with genetic changes that can result in Mitochondrial Disease.
💚
Mitochondrial Disease can affect anyone at any age, but for young children with the disease it can be debilitating and their lives can be cut tragically short as Mitochondrial Disease is often progressive. Affected children may not survive beyond their teenage years. Adult-onset can result in drastic changes from an active lifestyle to a debilitating illness is a short amount of time.
💚
There are still no effective, proven treatments for Mitochondrial Disease and no cure.
Yet.
💚
Research shows that faulty mitochondria are linked to a number of other conditions such as Cancer, Diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Autism, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS and could also be an explanation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Figuring out how to cure Mitochondrial Disease will have implications that go far beyond it.
💚
Join us this week in learning more about Mitochondrial Disease!