2012 UMDF Energy For Life Walk Has $166,000 Goal

Aug. 28, 2012 - PRLog -- Corporate sponsors include Lalilab, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, and Domtar.

The walk will feature three route options: a 5K course as well as two shorter paths for the energy impaired. In addition to educational information about the disease and storyboards about regional patients along the walk path, there will also be visiting medical specialists to answer questions. Walk registration will begin at 8:30am, and the walk will start at 10:00am.

There is no registration fee. To participate, volunteer, or for more information, go to www.energyforlifewalk.org/charlotte or email events@umdf.org.

In conjunction with the Energy For Life Walk, the UMDF is hosting a regional symposium entitled Understanding Mitochondrial Disease on Friday, October 12, from 8:00am to 4:30pm at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.  Pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses may register for the event at www.charlotteahec.org/continuing_education.  Continuing Medical Education credit is available.  

ABOUT MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE

Commonly known as the powerhouses of cells, tiny mitochondria generate more than 90% of the energy the human body needs to sustain life and to support growth.  When mitochondria are diseased, they produce insufficient energy, thereby causing cellular injury and cellular death.  As this process is replicated, entire organ systems fail, leading to illness that ranges from sporadic and mild, to progressively debilitating and catastrophic.  Most patients suffer symptoms for years before they are accurately diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, with many not receiving their diagnoses until well into adulthood.   With research indicating that one in 200 people harbors a genetic mutation that can lead to mitochondrial disease in them or their offspring, the condition is not rare.  In fact, at least once every 30 minutes, a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease by age 10. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to ALS, Alzheimer’s, autism, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and many forms of cancer.  For this reason, advances in mitochondrial disease medicine have a positive ripple effect on all these other conditions.  There is currently no cure for mitochondrial disease.