Study: Study: Lorenzo's Oil Stalls Illness
 

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By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 27, 2002; Page A24

A combination of medicinal oils brought to public attention in the hit movie "Lorenzo's Oil" may help to delay the onset of illness in some boys who have the genetic defect for the illness adrenoleukodystrophy. The benefit appears limited to boys younger than 6 who have not yet developed any symptoms of the devastating neurological disease.

This is the first time doctors have shown a preventive effect against the disease, said Gerald V. Raymond, a neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. Raymond's colleague, Hugo W. Moser, announced the results of the study Saturday at a conference in Belgium.

Adrenoleukodystrophy affects about 1 in every 30,000 U.S. boys. The childhood form of the illness manifests between ages 5 and 10, and usually results in death within two years. An adult form of the disease may strike people in their twenties or beyond, Raymond said. The research did not establish how long the disease can be held at bay, and does not address the plight of children who already have symptoms of the disease.

The study has not been published in a scientific journal, and so has not yet been evaluated by other scientists. In addition, the study retrospectively compared the effects of the medicine against historical data, a design that weakens the results.

The treatment involves swallowing about four tablespoons of the medicinal oil every day and maintaining a rigorous low-fat diet -- a challenge when the boys who could most benefit are little more than toddlers.

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