Lorenzo's Oil Prevents Pediatric Disorder

A new study has shown that use of a treatment known as Lorenzo's Oil may prevent a pediatric disorder called x-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) from developing in young boys diagnosed with the disorder but not yet showing signs of it.

The study involved 89 boys, aged seven and younger, who tested positive for an abnormal gene that identifies X-ALD. Over a period of seven years, researchers treated the boys with daily oral doses of Lorenzo's Oil, a combination of two fats extracted from olive oil and rapeseed oil, and moderately restricted their dietary fat. All patients had a normal brain scan and showed no neurologic signs and symptoms of X-ALD prior to the study. At the completion of the study, 74% of the 89 patients showed no signs of disease progression. The researchers correlated greater compliance with a lower risk of developing the disease. This is the first time that the preventive effects of Lorenzo's Oil have been demonstrated by rigorous and scientifically accepted research methods.

X-ALD causes the breakdown of myelin, a fatty substance that acts as an insulator around nerve fibers. Symptoms appear between ages four and 10, and can lead to nerve deterioration, loss of verbal communication, and eventually to complete breakdown of body function.

"This finding is an exciting progression of the research to which my associates and I have dedicated ourselves to help these children,” observed lead author Hugo Moser, M.D., director of the Neurogenetics Research Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute (Baltimore, MD, USA).

There is still no cure for X-ALD, and treatment options are limited to hormone therapy and bone marrow transplants. Lorenzo's Oil was invented by Augusto and Michaela Odone, whose son, Lorenzo, was diagnosed with X-ALD. Although the oil cannot repair damage already done, it can prevent the disease from progressing into a degenerative state. In spite of the fact that Lorenzo already showed symptoms before taking the oil, the treatment stopped the progression of his disease, and he celebrated his 27th birthday in May 2005. The story of the Odone family's struggle was dramatized in the 1992 motion picture entitled "Lorenzo's Oil.”





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Kennedy Krieger Institute