It's November!! What does that mean?!?


It’s November!! What does that mean?!? It is once again Alpha-1 Awareness month!! As many of you know I started this very blog because of Alpha-1. My family is affected by this genetic condition in our everyday activities. Most people ask what is alpha-1 because they have never heard of it before,  I hadn’t either until I found out that my dad suffered from the condition, so to answer your questions here is the answer!

What is Alpha 1?

Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) is a genetic condition that is passed on by parents to their children through their genes and can cause serious liver disease in children and liver and/or lung disease in adults. Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a protein that is produced mostly in the liver. Its primary function is to protect the lungs from neutrophil elastase. Neutrophil elastase is an enzyme that normally serves a useful purpose in lung tissue-it digests damaged or aging cells and bacteria to promote healing. However, if left unchecked, it will also attack healthy lung tissue. Alpha-1 antitrypsin, in sufficient amounts, will trap and destroy neutrophil elastase before it has a chance to begin damaging the delicate lung tissue. Consequently, if an individual doesn't have enough alpha-1 antitrypsin, the enzyme goes unchecked and attacks the lung. (alpha1.org)

Throughout the next 3o days I will be posting many things about Alpha-1 and stories of how it has affected my family. Alpha-1 has been a huge struggle for my family over the last 5 years, my dad was diagnosed with it my freshman year of high school and more of my family has been diagnosed since. My dad and other members of my family have gone through many struggles and continue to everyday to live a normal life, which is a stretch most times. Most people around us do not understand what is truly going on because Alpha-1 is very very under diagnosed and unheard of. So this month it is my goal to educate people about what Alpha-1 is, to try and save one family from going through this, and to bring awareness so a cure can be found. 

If you would like more information please continue to read this month’s blogs or go to alpha-1.org or alpha-1foundation.org

 

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