Mitochondrial Disease Awareness month

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- September is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness month in Ohio and one local family is working to raise awareness.

Jody Thompson is an advocate for Mitochondrial Awareness and raises money for research. Thompson’s daughter Baylee was diagnosed at just nine months old and has been fighting the disease ever since. The problem with mitochondrial is that it is random and can happen to anyone and is often hard to diagnose.

“Mitochondrial disease unfortunately can attack anyone at any age and any time. So we got Baylee’s diagnosis very early and some parents unfortunately go years without a diagnosis for their children, trying to figure out why they’re so sick.”

Mitochondrial can affect multiple parts of the body including the brain, heart, lungs, eyes, and muscles. This can cause problems with simple things such as thinking, walking, talking, eating, and even breathing. A lot of people with mitochondrial disease have seizures and very little energy. These reasons are why people in the community say it’s so important to fund research to find a cure.

“There is absolutely no known cure for this disease as of yet. And the FDA, no approved treatment. So every funding event that we do, and me not being the only one there’s tons of people doing funding for this disease, it all goes into the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation giving research money and the hopes for a cure.”

For more information on mitochondrial and how you can get involved, visit Bet on Baylee on Facebook.