Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week

At Bughat, we try hard to foster a culture that gives back to local and global communities through our pocketbooks and our actions. One of the ways we do this is by giving back 2% of every sale to various charities and causes that we feel extremely pationate about. One of the charities that we donate to is the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. This week is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week and we are working hard to get the word out on this debilitating disease that has no treatments and no cure.

What is Mitochondrial disease you ask? Well first of all, mitochondria are the tiny organelles found in the cells in the body. They are known as the "powerhouse of the cell." and are responsible for creating more than 90% of cellular energy. Mitochondrial failure causes cell injury that leads to cell death. When multiple organ cells die there is organ failure. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and that person's life is severely compromised.

The disease primarily affects children, but adult onset is becoming more common. Symptoms may include loss of motor control, muscle weakness and pain, gastrointestinal disorders and swallowing difficulties, poor growth, cardiac disease, liver disease, diabetes, respiratory complications, seizures, visual or hearing problems, lactic acidosis, developmental delays and susceptibility to infection. Mitochondrial disease can manifest in many forms, affecting people in different ways.

For additional information about this invisible killer, please see the following;

About Mitochondrial Disease - MitoAction.org

The invisible disease that's killing our son

Arlington 5-year old raising awareness for rare mitochondrial disease

Mito Kids Fight a Deadly Disease

The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Home Page

Also, we occassionally post information about Mito Disease on our Bughat Facebook Page.