Mitochondrial Disease A Presentation By Nico Tapiero

Introduction Human body is made up of cells, and the mitochondria in the cells make energy for the cells from food (cellular respiration) Cells have many mitochondria within them In Mitochondrial Disease, the cell’s mitochondria malfunction and do not give energy to the cell Cells make up tissues, tissues make up organs, organs make up organ systems, and organ systems make up organisms Damaged cells can do a lot of damage to the body

Causes Mitochondrial Disease is hereditary Also can be caused by unknown mitochondrial mutations and mitochondrial toxins Toxins will interact with the mitochondria in the cells and will lead to the disease Any tissue can be damaged, and the amount of damage depends on how many mitochondria are affected and in which cells The disease damages the cells by making them have less energy and not function properly.

Symptoms Mitochondrial Disease is also known as “The Invisible Disease” because it has many symptoms, and a health care worker could confuse it with other diseases Unique symptoms: muscle weakness, blindness, deafness, mental retardation, diabetes, and heart blocks There is no way to tell how sick a person will get and for how long, because there are many different symptoms Mitochondrial Disease can be fatal because of its fatal symptoms

Epidemiology Mitochondrial Disease was first discovered in the early 1960’s in Stockholm, Sweden by Lars Ernster and Rolf Luft Mitochondrial Disease is mostly specific to families of people with mitochondrial disease, but it can also be caused by other things besides heredity

Treatment Mitochondrial Disease is treated with vitamin therapy, a specific diet, treatments for the symptoms, and by pacing activities, conserving energy, and blocking lactic acid buildup There is no vaccine available because Mitochondrial Disease deals with mitochondria, and since doctors cannot find the cause of mitochondria mutations, there is not a way to stop Mitochondrial Disease with a vaccine

Transmission/Prevention Mitochondrial Disease is not contagious Unless a person counts having children with Mitochondrial Disease as spreading the disease, Mitochondrial Disease does not spread Human actions that can prevent Mitochondrial Disease are not smoking, eating a reasonable amount of fat, and avoiding psychological stressors

References http://www.mitoaction.org/mito-faq=whatis http://www.ehow.com/facts_5534163_signs-symptoms-mitochondrial-disease.html http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/spring02/mitochondrial.htm http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-1.3/dna-mitoch.html http//www.umdf.org/atf/cf/28038C4C-02EE-4AD0-9DB5-D23E9D9F4D45/Exercise%20and%20Previention%20-%20Tarnopolsk.pdf http://www.sharecare.com/question/what-causes-mitochondrial-diseases http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/mitochondrialdis/a/062103.htm