Practical Session 3 – Group 1

The keys to this practical session can be found at this link.

Lorenzo's Oil (1992)

The movie "Lorenzo’s Oil" tells the true story of the Odone family from diagnosis of the adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) of Lorenzo Odone.

The Odone family

The Odone Family in real life, before Lorenzo was diagnosed with the disease:

Lorenzo Odone

- He was diagnosed with ALD at 5 years of age.

- After taking "Lorenzo’s Oil" he was able to communicate through winks and could move his fingers slightly.

- He recovered and maintained full mental faculties and loved listening to music and being read to.

- Died in 2008 at 30 years of aspiration pneumonia.

- He lived 22 years longer than doctors predicted.

Michaela Odone

- She participated actively in the creation of "Lorenzo's Oil" and the founding of "The Myelin Project".

- She was nicknamed as the "mother tiger" by devotion to her son and her desire to fight.

- She died in 2000 at the age of 61 years of lung cancer.

Augusto Odone

- He participated in several research articles regarding ALD.

- He founded the "The Myelin Project" with his wife Michaela.

- In recognition of his research, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Stirling.

- In 2012, a campaign was started to nominate Augusto Odone for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the most prestigious award that can be bestowed on an American civilian.

- He died in October 2014 at the age of 80 years in Italy.

The Myelin Project

The Myelin Project was created in order to raise funds for research to find a cure for demyelinating genetic diseases such as leukodystrophies, and acquired diseases such as multiple sclerosis. The organization was founded in 1989 by Augusto Odone and his wife Michaela. The research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of myelin repair, with the aim of discovering therapies that allow the restoration of damaged myelin. The headquarters is based in Amarillo, Texas, at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on campus Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Research.

In the following video you can observe some concepts about the disease and its treatment. If you want to watch a full screen slower version of the video go to this link and click on "CLICK HERE to view a presentation about how the oil works...".

Lorenzo died in 2008 the day after his 30th birthday. He lived in Virginia with his father, cared for by several nurses and Hassane Oumori. In this picture, you can see Lorenzo with his father and Oumori.

Super Size Me (2004)

The documentary reflects the effect of the abuse of "junk food" on the body. In the following video, which mentions the movie, you can see some aspects related to obesity and some of the health policy measures that we have discussed about in the practical sessions:

In this further video the effect of the action taken in New York banning trans fats is shown: