Lorenzo's Oil Research Paper

Adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD, is a disease found in young boys. In boys with this condition, certain fatty acids strip away the nerve cells’ protective layer, causing major brain damage. It is an orphan disease, meaning that there are only a few people that have it, and there is little to no profit incentive for drug companies to develop a cure. In Lorenzo’s Oil, Lorenzo Odone is diagnosed with this disease, which at the time, was nearly always fatal. During Lorenzo’s father’s journey to find a cure for his son’s disease, he discovered that if the intake very long chain saturated fatty acids was halted, their levels would continue to rise in his son. He then saw that oleic acid could be used to cut his very long chain saturated fatty acid …show more content…
This compound was oleic acid, an extract of olive oil. However, most scientists did not think it would work, because oleic acid is a fat, and high levels of certain fats are what cause ALD. Lorenzo’s father insists that it must be tried, as his son’s condition is worsening, saying that nobody will tell him how to prepare his son a salad. He thinks that this will halt the biosynthesis of the harmful fats in Lorenzo. After they start to administer the olive oil extract, they notice that Lorenzo’s levels dropped. However, the dropping levels of the fats started to slow, and they were still above the normal level. This was because the oleic acid acted as an inhibitor to slow the production of the fats, but it could not bring the levels back to normal alone (Lorenzo’s …show more content…
While researching, Augusto found a study in which erucic acid, an extract of rapeseed oil, could lower the production levels of the very long chain saturated fatty acids harmful to Lorenzo. However, erucic acid had been found to cause diseases in rats, so many scientists warned against using it with humans. When this compound, combined with the oleic acid, was given to Lorenzo, the levels of the harmful fats in Lorenzo’s blood dropped and Lorenzo started to recover. This was because of competitive inhibition, the enzyme that produces the fats harmful to Lorenzo cannot produce those fats because it metabolizes the oleic and erucic acids that are given to Lorenzo. This use of competitive inhibition in the human body works so well that Lorenzo was able to answer yes or no questions and eventually communicate with a computer (Lorenzo’s