A few days ago, there was a news that blew up the hot search.
Not only did it directly rush to the first place, but it also triggered a fierce discussion -
"He's not a medicine god, he's just a father."
The protagonist of the news event, a father and son.
At 6 months of age, the child was diagnosed with Menkes syndrome.
This is an extremely rare genetic disorder.
What is even more desperate is that there is currently no specific drug for this disease.
There is no precedent for a cure.
According to the doctor's diagnosis, the child's life is less than two years left.
Image source @Eight Point Health
After learning the bad news, the father did not want to watch the child's life wither.
So he decided to make a desperate bet and develop his own drug.
Completely without a background in medicine, he taught himself from scratch.
Then a simple laboratory was set up at home.
Finally, kung fu pays off.
This father purified histidine copper.
He first tried the medicine himself and then injected the child.
Since September 2020, injections have been made more than 300 times since the pharmaceuticals.
By the time the child is 2 years old, it is beyond the previously estimated time of life.
The father took the child to the hospital for a follow-up examination.
The doctor believes, "This is a miracle of Menkes' disease."
Some people call this father a "medicine god," but he says:
"I'm not a medicine god, I'm just a father."
Image source Party Weibo @ live up to my time
Uncle Yu read the news related to this hot search in its entirety.
In addition to being shocked and moved, I also had to sigh:
This is the "miracle" that happens to us.
As netizens said: "This is the most shocking story I have seen this year, and the movie does not dare to make it like this."
Others said, "I'm Not a Medicine Man 2."
And the reason why this thing touches people is the power of love contained in it.
This strength gave my father extraordinary courage and perseverance.
His rebellion against fate was also taken care of by God.
Coincidentally, similar stories have happened abroad.
And it has long been made into a movie.
Today, Uncle Fish wants to use the "Medicine God Father" incident to talk about this movie -
The Oil of Lorenzo
Lorenzo's Oil
The film's director, George Miller.
Six years ago, he made the hardcore god work "Mad Max 4".
It's hard to imagine that he ever made such a heartwarming film in 1993.
It also received two nominations for the Oscars that year, Douban 8.5 points.
"The Oil of Lorenzo" and the "Medicine God Father" incident seem to be unrelated, but in fact they are closely related.
We can see this film as a complement to the event.
After all, from the news reports, we only saw the process of father's development of drugs.
Besides.
The plight of the family, the pressures of life, and the obstruction from public opinion.
None of this can be ignored.
Perhaps through "The Oil of Lorenzo", we can perceive more details.
The boy Lorenzo, versatile, lively and cheerful, has always been the pride of his parents.
But suddenly one day, the teacher reflected to her mother:
Lorenzo occasionally behaved in a perverse manner at school and became very grumpy.
At first, her mother didn't pay much attention, thinking that other classmates had bullied Lorenzo.
But similar situations have emerged one after another.
Until Christmas Day, Lorenzo fell heavily from his chair without warning.
And spitting blood.
After Lorenzo was taken to the hospital, he was diagnosed with adrenal leuko degeneration.
This is an extremely rare genetic disorder, or ALD for short.
Lorenzo has the most obvious feature of ALD, which is that the saturated fatty acids in the blood are excessive.
It may lead to the degeneration of white matter and the loss of bodily functions.
Lorenzo's parents listened to the doctor explain the disease.
The only thing they could understand was the last sentence:
"There is no cure for this disease, and all boys who suffer from it will die within two years."
In the face of repeated questions from the parents, the doctor was also weak and shook his head repeatedly.
The doctor's words were tantamount to directly sentencing Lorenzo to death.
For the whole family, this is undoubtedly a devastating blow.
Shortly after the diagnosis, it was Lorenzo's sixth birthday.
At the birthday party, everyone was trying to find a way to make him happy.
Only the birthday star Lorenzo was expressionless, lost and lonely.
Although doctors say there is no cure for ALD, Lorenzo's parents are reluctant to give up.
They decided to try various methods and finally gamble again.
The first way is to control diet.
Eliminate all foods rich in saturated fatty acids.
But this approach was quickly proven ineffective.
The amount of fatty acids in Lorenzo's blood is still rising.
The second option is chemotherapy.
The Lorenzo family arrives at a hospital in Boston.
There is a chemotherapy that is in the experimental stages.
This therapy is risky and has the potential to make Lorenzo's situation worse.
But Lorenzo's parents decided to take a gamble anyway.
After one month of chemotherapy.
The risks that the doctor had said beforehand were unfortunately all fulfilled.
Lorenzo was no longer able to walk normally and speak normally.
His face was pale and he even began to lose a lot of hair.
The third option is to seek help from the ALD Foundation.
There is an ALD Foundation in the United States that regularly organizes advisory sessions and workshops.
Most critically, the foundation has more than 500 members from all over the world.
Some of these members' families have ALD.
Perhaps, the Lorenzo family can no longer feel lonely here.
But during a meeting, Lorenzo's parents found out they had come in the wrong place.
Because the purpose of this foundation is not to save children.
Instead, it is an attempt to repair the rift between couples with alders.
For this purpose, sick children fall prey to medical experiments.
That's not what Lorenzo's parents wanted.
Because they never gave up hope for their children.
I have tried so many methods, and none of them have worked.
At this point, Lorenzo's father finally figured it out:
Lorenzo's life cannot be entrusted to aimless medical experiments.
He believes that if you want to overcome this disease, you must fully understand this disease.
So Lorenzo's father quit his job.
He and his wife spent all day in the library, dealing with a huge amount of materials.
They want to use their actions to let Lorenzo know: You are not alone.
Now the whole family is on the same side, and the common enemy is the disease.
They found a breakthrough in a Polish biological journal:
Scientists have done a fatty acid experiment on mice.
Oleic acid was found to be fed to mice to reduce the biosynthesis of fatty acids.
This also happens in human cells.
Skin cells were extracted from children with ALD and cultured together with oleic acid.
It will be found that the fatty acid content in the cells is significantly reduced.
But the experiment only targeted mice and skin cells, and it's uncertain whether it's useful in humans.
Lorenzo's father decided to make oleic acid his last hope.
However, extracting pure oleic acid is expensive and there is no market.
So there aren't any chemical or medical companies that are willing to do this.
Fortunately, he contacted a laboratory that happened to store an idle bottle of oleic acid.
After getting the oleic acid, Lorenzo's father took out 30g a day.
Oleic acid is mixed with liquid food and injected from the nose along the pipe into Lorenzo's body.
Many professional doctors believe that Lorenzo's father is fooling around and does not conform to the spirit of science.
But his response was:
"I'm not a scientist, I'm a father."
This sentence is almost the same as "I am not a medicine god, I am just a father".
Because the mentality of the two fathers is the same.
Even if this method is only one in ten thousand, it is necessary to try.
After a month of injections, Lorenzo's examination report came out.
The content of fatty acids in the blood, there is a significant decrease.
After another month, the fatty acid content decreased by 50% compared to the initial level.
The discovery excited Lorenzo's parents.
But they didn't stop there, but they needed to dig deeper.
Find a way to get Lorenzo's fatty acid content back to normal levels.
So I plunged into the library again.
Later, according to the latest research theory, the idea of treating with erucic acid was proposed.
As with oleic acid, extraction is a big problem.
No business in the United States has such a service.
At the critical moment, they got help from the nobles.
A laboratory abroad was willing to provide erucic acid after learning of their deeds.
Lorenzo's father mixed erucic acid and oleic acid in a ratio of one to four.
It is then mixed with liquid food and injected into Lorenzo again.
After some time, a miracle occurred.
The fatty acid index, which was originally reduced by 50% due to oleic acid, continued to decline and reached normal levels.
Lorenzo, survived.
Lorenzo's story develops here, almost on the same trajectory as the "Father Medicine God" incident.
but.
The movie isn't over yet.
The reason why "Lorenzo's Oil" can be used as a contrast to the "Medicine God Father" incident.
Because the movie also filmed the side that we can't see.
That is, what impact will a seriously ill child have on life?
First, the plight of the family.
Lorenzo's parents, the normal life of the two was completely disrupted.
Friends around me, some people have also advised them not to be too persistent:
"Your life is not just Lorenzo's."
Colorenzo's father was adamant:
"No one can stop me from saving my son's life."
Even at the expense of one's own life.
That's their attitude and choice.
Second, the questioning of public opinion.
When Lorenzo's parents experimented with the therapeutic effects of oleic acid, they decided to make it public within the Foundation.
The head of the Foundation rejected them.
The person in charge believes that it lacks a rigorous scientific basis and should not be disclosed, so as not to cause an "empty joy".
In fact, after the hot search on the news of "Medicine God Father", similar objections also appeared in the comments.
Some netizens also believe that:
"Orphan cases are not suitable for transmission, and parents of children who see them must not learn, and there is no one to learn."
But Lorenzo's father said, "Scientists and parents have different perspectives."
In the face of ALD, so-called scientists are just ordinary people, and they also make mistakes.
He still insisted that he should tell everyone about this matter.
As for how to choose, it is up to everyone to judge for themselves.
Third, moral judgment.
The head of the foundation has criticized Lorenzo's parents as too selfish:
"Saving Lorenzo's life and allowing him to live without dignity is actually perpetuating his suffering."
Same.
Some people under the hot search also commented:
"Did he go to great lengths to save the child with his consent?"
There is no standard answer to this moral judgment.
It depends on what we believe in family and life.
At least, the film's attitude is clear.
Relying on oleic and erucic acid, Lorenzo far exceeded the life expectancy of doctors.
There is a scene in the movie like this:
One day when Lorenzo was 12 years old, he listened to a fairy tale told to him by his mother.
The eyes kept blinking.
This surprised the mother very much.
This tiny gesture convinced the mother that Lorenzo could indeed perceive the outside world.
Although his body could not move, he could not speak.
But he has the most primitive emotions, will be hungry, will be afraid, will be happy.
Parents' efforts and efforts are not futile.
Nor is Lorenzo's life a continuation of suffering.
As mentioned earlier, this movie is based on a real thing.
During filming, the real-life Lorenzo was 14 years old.
He could already move his head to the other side.
And with restored vision, it can also make simple sounds.
As technology advanced, he could also use computers for simple communication.
And all alD patients in the world will benefit from "Lorenzo's oil".
In 2008, Lorenzo died of aspiration pneumonia at the age of 30.
Although this life is short.
But it lived a full 22 years longer than the doctors estimated.
The reason why Uncle Fish wants to introduce this movie is also to let more people know their deeds.
It is not only the shocking results, but also the difficult process and inner struggle behind it.
After the "Medicine God Father" incident was on fire.
There are many who accuse such fathers of being too selfish.
Uncle Yu felt that these people were too arrogant.
In the face of a miracle of invincibility, it is sometimes difficult to demand it by the standards of the reasonable guest.
Because the birth of the miracle is beyond the usual calm and reason.
Some people think that such things should not spread and may lead to imitation.
Uncle Yu did not dare to agree.
Suffering from this disease is a small probability event.
In such a small probability event, how many people dare to develop their own drugs?
So this is entirely a small probability event within a small probability event.
Rather than worrying about someone imitating, we should worry more about someone losing the will to survive.
Miracles are called miracles.
It's that it doesn't happen again and again.
The existence of these people will make us feel strongly:
Somewhere in the world, there are still people who are trying their best to stay alive.
The power they bring is one that transcends nations and lives and dies.
It is also a reminder to everyone to live well.