Ladies and Gentlemen, I will be participating in a fundraiser to benefit the
Central Ohio Chapter of the Huntington's Disease Society of America later this month, and would like to get the word out to as many people as possible.
Up until last week I had never heard of Huntington's Disease, which got me thinking about how many others there are out there that didn't know about this. I immediately thought Buckeyeplanet would be the perfect place to get the word out.
Huntington's Disease (HD) is a fatal, genetic, degenerative brain disorder that slowly robs individuals of their ability to speak, walk and reason. In adults, the disease progresses slowly, and frequently there is a 10-20 year life span from the time of onset until death. Sadly, the majority of individuals spend half of those years in a nursing home. The results in children, though less common, are even more devastating as their life span is less than half of that of affected adults. Typical onset is between 30-50 years of age, the prime of life.
Current estimates are that 1 in 10,000 people in the United States have HD, but the devastating effects of the disease touch as many as 1 in 1,000 Americans. It is a "family disease" not just because it is inherited from a parent (each child has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the defect gene), but it profoundly affects the entire family emotionally, socially and financially. HD like Alzheimer and Parkinson's takes the person away from their loved ones and the rest of the world long before they die. There is currently no effective cure or treatment to delay the effects of the disease.
July 25Th 2008 I will be auctioned off as part of a date package to help raise money for research into HD and would like to get as many people there as possible. Also, if you or anyone you know would be interested in being a part of this, please contact Lisa at 740-816-4883. This event will be emceed by Mo from 99.7 the Rock and is being advertised in a number of local publications. Thanks for your time and I hope that you will be able to attend!
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