This is an interesting article we came across about the drug treatment developments for the Marfan syndrome & other connective tissue disorders. Dr. Hal Dietz, referenced in the article, is Luke's doctor at Johns Hopkins. There is also an audio interview in the original article - be sure to check it out because it's very informative!
Old Drug Offers New Hope for Marfan Syndrome
by David Kestenbaum
Morning Edition, May 8, 2008 · We tend to think we know what most pills in our medicine cabinet do. But sometimes a drug approved to fix one thing also turns out to fix something completely unexpected.
That may be the case with a common blood pressure-lowering drug called Losartan. It's been on the market for more than a decade and has been taken by millions of people.
Now it looks as though the drug also could be a powerful tool for a deadly genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome. About one or two of every 5,000 Americans are thought to suffer from the illness, according to the National Marfan Foundation.
Although caused by a defect in a single gene, the disorder wreaks all kinds of havoc. It alters the connective tissue between cells and can affect the skeleton, the eyes, the lungs. Most dangerously, the aorta — the main artery coming out of the heart — can weaken, enlarge and burst. People with Marfan syndrome are generally tall, thin and loose jointed, which has led some to speculate that Abraham Lincoln had the disorder.
Click Source to read full article:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90257827&ft=1&f=100
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