August is an economist at the World Bank. When his only son, Lao Lunzuo, came into this world, he and his wife were 45 and 39 years old respectively. This naturally makes them love their children like life. 1In the autumn of 983, the family made a detour from the Moro Islands to Washington. Lao Lunzuo learned to climb mountains and swim. He is lively and lovely. He is five years old this year. He learned English, French and Italian from his parents, and he also learned to appreciate music.
Later, for some unknown reason, Lao Lunzuo began to have nightmares, couldn't speak clearly, and often lost his temper. The hearing test proved that he was 50 decibels lower than normal people. Once he got lost when he went to the toilet at school. After examination, he suffered from "adrenal leukodystrophy". This is an incurable disease, which gradually destroys people's white matter, makes people dumb, blind and incapacitated, and finally affects breathing and causes people to die. Generally speaking, the average period from discovery to death is about two years.
The Augustus, who have always been strong, are also in a mess. Can the doctor's diagnosis be wrong? They decided to study all the information about the disease.
August came to the library of the National Institutes of Health. He studied law and economics, and knew little about medicine, but for the sake of his son's life, he still had to make an in-depth study of the disease. Here, he learned that people with this disease are caused by too high long-chain fatty acids in their bodies. Saturated fatty acids are deposited in human cells, destroying the myelin sheath, which wraps nerve fibers. This is a serious genetic disease called leukodystrophy.
Auguste did not yield to literature. He said: "I was born in a family that never recognized secular views. We are committed to studying this disease, not because we have the curiosity of intellectuals, nor because we want to show doctors anything, but because we love our children and we don't want to lose him. "
In order to conquer this disease, the Augusts begged the Kennedy Institute for Disabled Children in Baltimore to hold an expert seminar in Baltimore as the initiator of the "World's First Symposium on Adrenal Leukodystrophy". They also paid $36,000 for it. At this meeting, August learned that Rizzo, an associate professor of human genetics and pediatrics at Virginia Medical College, had used oleic acid to reduce the level of very long-chain fatty acids in test tubes. But experts warned that the oleic acid he used in the experiment was toxic and not suitable for human consumption. At this time, Lao Lunzuo's condition became worse: his hearing disappeared, his vision declined, he had difficulty walking and could hardly eat. His mother, Michella, hugged him and fed him his favorite food through a small tube. Dr fishman concluded that Lao Lunzuo would not live much longer. After making more than 40 phone calls, they finally found edible oil acid in a company in Ohio. When the first bottle of oleic acid arrived, Michella's sister deirdre volunteered to try. After six weeks, Lao Lunzuo's very long-chain fatty acids decreased by nearly 50%, but it was still twice that of normal people. The doctor thinks Lao Lunzuo will die. But the Augusts vowed to do everything they could to save their son.
One night while reading a book, Auguste was inspired by the common thing of "exchanging animal experiments for food". He believes that this oleic acid can eliminate the remaining fatty acids in the body. Soon, he chose an unsaturated monovalent acid called erucic acid. 1in March, 986, British Croda General Co., Ltd. agreed to manufacture this drug immediately. When the medicine was flown to the United States, Lao Lunzuo had been taken to the emergency room.
After taking it for 24 days, Lao Lunzuo's very long-chain fatty acids have become the same as those of normal children, and his health is recovering day by day! In this way, Auguste and Michella exchanged their love for their son for the power to save the sky, and pieced together medical puzzles that puzzled many professionals.
When we are in trouble, there is always someone to support us. He is a great parent. Parents' love for their children is the most lasting, selfless, greatest and magical.