Mitochondrial diseases are very rare. However, they are very interesting because they are genetic diseases, and yet are very different to all other types of genetic disease. Surprisingly, there is actually DNA in the body that is not on any of the 46 chromosomes. This "other DNA" was discovered a long time ago but has only recently been linked to disease. Currently, mitochondrial DNA is an extremely active area of research. See also article Mitochondrial disorders. ...more »
See full list of 18 symptoms of Mitochondrial diseases
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See full list of 49 Types of Mitochondrial diseases
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Prognosis for Mitochondrial diseases: The prognosis for patients with mitochondrial myopathies varies greatly from patient to patient because disease progression depends largely on the type of disease and the degree of involvement of various organs. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Mitochondrial Myopathies Information Page: NINDS)
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The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.
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Types of Mitochondrial diseases
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Mitochondrial myopathies are a group of neuromuscular diseases caused by damage to the mitochondria - small, energy-producing structures found in every cell in the body that serve as the cells' "power plants." Nerve cells in the brain and muscles require a great deal of energy, and thus appear to be particularly damaged when mitochondrial dysfunction occurs. Some of the more common mitochondrial myopathies include Kearns-Sayre syndrome, myoclonus epilepsy with ragged-red fibers (MERRF), and mitochondrial encephalomyopathy lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). (Source: excerpt from NINDS Mitochondrial Myopathies Information Page: NINDS)
Mitochondrial diseases is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of
Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). This means that Mitochondrial diseases, or a subtype of Mitochondrial diseases,
affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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