Benjamin Button Disease

Benjamin Button DiseaseThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a fantasy drama film aired in 2008. It starred Brad Pitt as Benjamin, a man who was born with the appearance of an old man, and actually grew younger over time. This movie was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and Best Director. Needless to say, it was a good movie. Yet, most of those who watched it mostly thought of it as "just a movie." Only recently have scientists discovered that a disease similar, but possibly even worse, than Benjamin Button's disease exists. Sadly, this is not a disease that results in people who ages backwards in his appearance, but actually for them to age backwards mentally. Two brothers, Matthew and Michael Clark have been diagnosed with terminal leukodystrophy. In the two men's brains, a group of neurological disorders work to damage the myelin sheath, a protective covering around nerve fibers in the brain. When these fibers are damaged, the brain send wrong signals and the result is disastrous. Recently, there lives have crumbled as one of the two lost his job, and they could not live by himself out on the streets. At this point, the brothers, who are roughly about 40 years old, with one about to become a grandfather, have the mental maturity of a child and play with toys, board games, and balloons. Their parents and children are in extreme grief, as they can no longer interact properly with the men they one knew. This disease is extremely rare, and the chance that it could affect two people in the same family is one in 3 billion people. Another case was with young 14-year-old Lorenzo Odone, who was also diagnosed with the fatal disease. He died at age 30, and his parents founded the Myelin Project, which is still researching for a cure to terminal leukodystophy. Let us hope that they will eventually be able to find a cure, to save the lives of the very few people like Matthew and Michael Clark.