Every 30 minutes...

"Every 30 minutes, a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease by age 10." 
For information on symptoms and how mitochondrial diseases affect both adults and children, visit www.umdf.org

The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
8085 Saltsburg Road, Suite 201 | Pittsburgh, PA  15239
Toll-Free: 888-317-8633 | F: 412-793-6477 | info@umdf.org

UMDF MISSION
To promote research and education for the diagnosis, treatment and cure of mitochondrial disorders 
and to provide support to affected individuals and families.

Mitochondrial Disease Defined

What is mitochondrial disease?   As a reminder, my plan is to complete "Baking Gracefully" and publish it to raise money for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.  My sister has a mitochondrial disease and few people know what this means.  Click on the link provided in this post to learn more.

Some of you may recognize the term "mitochondria" from science class.  At Cardinal Mooney High School, Mr. Tierney taught us that the "mighty mitochondria" perform cellular respiration thereby giving the cell/organism energy.  Practically every cell in your body contains mitochondria with hundreds in the muscle cells where more energy is required.  One could imagine that if there is dysfunction in this cell structure some serious problems would result.  Mitochondria have their own DNA - handy for housing their own special set of genetic defects to be passed silently from generation to generation, eh?

Still a burgeoning area of research as the UMDF was founded only in 1998.