In China, the father of a boy suffering from the fatal Menkes disease managed to independently create a medicine for his son, according to the South China Morning Post.
This deadly disease causes stunted growth, nervous system abnormalities, and characteristic curling of hair, due to which Menkes disease is also called “curly hair disease.” Pathologies of this kind appear due to a violation of the cellular transport of copper in the human body – children with this disease do not live longer than several years.
“We took him to the doctor because of his slow development. He had a sample taken in to undergo a complete genetic test and tested positive. I felt devastated but couldn't give up. How could you give up your own child? ”Said the child's father Xu Wei. A 30-year-old man, having learned about the presence of the disease in his child, first tried to find all sorts of solutions for its treatment, but, not finding an alternative, he was able to synthesize an experimental drug himself – the amino acid histidine copper.
At that time, the Chinese, with only secondary education, enrolled in public courses at the university, through which he learned how to manufacture pharmaceuticals and ensure quality control. Due to the high complexity and high cost of industrial production of the drug that he created, it was decided to create it at home.
First, he tested the drug on rats, then on himself, and only then gave it to his son. The examination showed that the medicine helped him partially recover. He survived, but he could not roll over and talk.
Earlier, the winner of the Miss Great Britain 2020 beauty pageant admitted to a fatal illness that she experienced as a teenager. April Banbury, 32, said that at the age of 13 she brought herself to anorexia, because she ate only cookies during the day to lose weight.
