Mitochondrial Disease

Here's the bad news... 

What is Mitochondrial Disease?

Mitochondrial diseases are not one disease, but a group of metabolic diseases. These diseases result from failures of the mitochondria, specialized organelles present in almost every cell of the body. Mitochondria are responsible for providing more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. Food is converted into ATP (stored energy) by means of enzymes in the electron transport chain (or respiratory chain) inside the mitochondria. The process itself is called oxidative phosphorylation. Defects in either the mitochondrial DNA or the DNA of the nucleus can impair this process and cause mitochondrial failure. 

When mitochondria fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. When this happens, cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated on a large scale throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail. The life of the affected person is compromised, changed or even ended.  

(http://momentswithjacob.blogspot.com/p/about-mitochondrial-disease.html)

In other words...

Mitochondrial disease is an inherited chronic illness that can be present at birth or develop later in life. It causes debilitating physical, developmental, and cognitive disabilities with symptoms including poor growth; loss of muscle coordination; muscle weakness and pain; seizures; vision and/or hearing loss; gastrointestinal issues; learning disabilities; and organ failure.  It is estimated that 1 in 4,000 people has Mito. It’s progressive and there is no cure. ( http://www.mitoaction.org/mito-faq)