Virginia Designates the 3rd Week of Sept ‘Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week’

Last week the Commonwealth of Virginia proclaimed the third week of September as Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week. Many thanks to my mother, Patti Farmer, who initiated the bill, and to the honorable sponsors, Senator Wm. Roscoe Reynolds and Delegate Ward Armstrong, House Minority Leader. My daughter, Jaden, is suspected to have mitochondrial disease, so awareness for research is very important to us.

Mitochondria are the power plants in every cell of a person’s body and create more than 90 percent of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. Mitochondria may not function correctly due to genetic defects, damage caused by drugs, or damage caused by destructive molecules called free radicals. When mitochondria fail, cell injury and cell death follow, and if the process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail. Mitochondrial diseases can cause isolated symptoms such as seizures, low blood counts, blindness, deafness, dementia, heart failure, and progressive muscle weakness, but more often they cause failure of several organ systems in sequence.

Although mitochondrial diseases can affect any person at any age, it is estimated that more than one in 4,000 children born in the United States each year will develop a mitochondrial disease by 10 years of age. Since mitochondrial disorders mimic other diseases, it is believed that patients with these grave conditions are underdiagnosed. Currently no cures exist for mitochondrial disorders, but early diagnosis can help patients and their families use proper medication and nutritional supplements to improve the quality of life and even prolong life.

Visit the Mitochondrial Disease Action Committee website or the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation website to learn more about mitochondrial disease and steps you can take to help make a difference.

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Tags: cell death, cell injury, free radicals, genetic defects, hyptonia, mitochondria, mitochondrial disease, mitrochondrial disease action committee, muscle weakness, roscoe reynolds, seizures, united mitochondrial disease foundation, virginia, ward armstrong

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