We have put together a short video of Brisan and Parker Stults to help raise awareness through social media outlets. The upcoming 2011 year should bring hopefully other insightful videos that can be shared with our friends, family, coworkers, and complete strangers. The whole object with any rare disease is to explain a message in the shortest amount of time to help create emotion. We all act upon our emotions and that has done an incredible amount of good in our society.
Wednesday August 25th Steve Hugunin’s hair line changed forever. Well maybe just for another 30 days! He participated with MyDunkTank.com in raising money for the Niemann-Pick Children’s Fund in honor of my two sons Brisan and Parker Stults. He had two weeks to accomplish his mission. The dares were to shave his head, dress up in a DealBug.com costume for a month, and the other was to go skydiving because he is afraid of heights.
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
Social Security adds 38 new medical conditions that qualify for disability help. The new conditions range from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease to rare diseases that primarily affect children which includes Niemann-Pick Type C!
Personally this seems like a relief for so many families. One of the goals of the Niemann-Pick Children’s Fund is how can we directly impact families especially with this kind of disease. That of course is a huge task that seems daunting at times. There are so many other rare diseases out there that are equally devastating besides NPC. It is heart wrenching to know that there are so few options. Continue Reading
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