Gavin and His Mother’s Heartbreaking Story
Kristen and Fernando Lopez have 3 children from Little Elm, Texas. Gavin there oldest son has Niemann-Pick Type C disease. Recently they were on the TV show The Doctors talking about their guilt about having a child with Niemann-Pick Type C. This is very normal to have these feelings because we as parents love our children so much that we want to fix them even with a rare disease. The show was focusing around Overcoming Guilt. Continue Reading
Karen Quandt is the Board Chair for the NNPDF.org. A few years back she was completing a study about neurodegenerative disease in family members of patients with Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC). There differently is a relationship between NPC and other diseases. At this given time ,the current discoveries that scientists are making to further develop treatments for NPC are providing critical insights into our understanding relating to a few of the most common diseases that have been shown to be debilitating to life.
Thank you Karen for allowing us to share.
You possibly can recall someone you knew that suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Currently 5.3 million Americans are living with this progressive and fatal brain disease with no cure (www.Alz.org). Alzheimer’s is progressively devastating in how it destroys brain cells, causes loss of memory (progressive dementia), and problems with intellectual functions that affect many of the things you and I take for granted. Alzheimer’s is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States (www.Alz.org).
In comparison to Niemann-Pick Type C Disease (NPC), it has maybe less than a 100 people currently living in the U nited States. Many sources state that 500 cases have been diagnosed ever worldwide. That’s not exactly as common of disease as Alzheimer’s. NPC is described as a genetic degenerative neurological disorder that mostly strikes during childhood that stores fatty lipids in the brain, liver, spleen, and bone marrow because of the cells inability to metabolize cholesterol. Although uncommon, adult onset can take place with NPC. Outcome is also fatal with no cure. Continue Reading
Dementia, who was the thief that thought up this bright idea? Sorry honey, what did you say again? OK that might be a case of selective hearing. We’ve all have had family or known people who have suffered with this horrible symptom. When you mention dementia, Alzheimer’s comes to mind or we all tend to think of an elderly person with their hands on their head not able to remember out of frustration pounding the table with their fists. STOP!… WAIT!… Did you know our children can suffer from dementia too? Continue Reading
Welcome to Niemann-Pick Children’s Fund! Please stay patient while we complete our site. “Dementia is something that is usually associated with older people. However, children, teenagers and young adults can experience dementia as a result of a number of rare diseases and conditions. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) is an example of one of these diseases, and one of its main symptoms is dementia.” (Hinton et al, 2005)
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