While jogging on the park trail last week, I noticed a gentleman walking with the shuffling gait of Parkinson’s disease, his hands trembling at his sides. I smiled sadly as I passed, praying that doctors could find a cure.
Since speaking with Laura Stanley, executive director of Atlanta-based Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine (FMM), I feel more optimistic. The motto of FMM is “hope flies”, and with its soaring firefly logo symbolizing full energy, the organization’s mission is to find cures. It starts with recognizing mitochondrial dysfunction and resulting diseases.
According to Stanley, when I see someone with autism, Parkinson’s disease, dementia or epilepsy, I am likely witnessing the effects of mitochondrial disorder. This disease is a result of the malfunctioning of the mitochondria, tiny energy-producing organelles residing among our body’s many cells.
I contacted Stanley after receiving a flier announcing FMM’s “Hope Flies Health Series – An Evening with Holly Robinson Peete”. This educational and fundraising event is on Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta. Stanley, a Brookhaven resident and parent of a child with mitochondrial disease, was promoting the event for FMM as a symposium about autism, Parkinson’s and mitochondrial disease.
I wasn’t familiar with Holly Robinson Peete. Stanley said that Robinson Peete’s father, the original “Gordon” from Sesame Street, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Then one of her sons with her husband, former pro football player Rodney Peete, was diagnosed with autism. She advocates for both causes, and will share her personal journey at the FMM event.
Following Robinson Peete, the evening features a panel discussion with four renowned medical experts, including Atlanta’s Dr. John Shoffner of Medical Neurogenetics and Dr. Robin Morris, a neuropsychologist at Georgia State University who received an FMM grant for MRI studies on possible mitochondrial dysfunction among children experiencing learning difficulties. The others are Dr. Martha Herbert of Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, an autism expert, and Dr. Zbigniew Wsolzek of the Mayo Clinic in Florida, who will speak about Parkinson’s.
Stanley seemed especially excited about uniting these experts. “Mitochondrial disease is more common than childhood cancer, with 1 in 2,500 people affected. Some cases are progressively degenerative while others represent lifelong chronic struggles in varying degrees,” according to Stanley’s information. “No two stories are alike, though, and the disorder crosses all ages, races and demographics.”
Visit the Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine website at www.mitochondrialdiseases.org to learn more.
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