Below is an email from Illinois Representative Laura Fine. Rep. Fine is introducing legislation that will add the test for ALD (which also identifies other peroxisomal disorders such as PBD-ZSD and DBPD) to Illinois' newborn screening panel. In her email she outlines ways that both IL residents and those living elsewhere can show their support for this legislation. Identifying children born with ALD (boys and girls who are "carriers") will save lives! Identifying children born with PBD-ZSD or one of the other peroxisomal disorders will give parents the information they need to seek out the best interventions and treatments for symptoms as they arise. All the families who are made aware of one of these diseases will have the knowledge needed to make informed choices about future family building and be able to let other family members know if they may be at risk for either having or passing on these diseases to the next generation. Please take a quick moment to show your s...
Our son, Ethan, was diagnosed with peroxisomal biogenesis disorder - zellweger spectrum disorder (PBD-ZSD), a very rare genetic disease, when he was just four weeks old. There is no cure for PBD-ZSD and treatment is symptomatic. This is our family's journey.