Treatment
There is no cure for Canavan disease, nor is there a standard course of treatment. Treatment is symptomatic and supportive, but there is an experimental treatment using lithium citrate. When a person has Canavan Disease, his or her levels of N-acetyl aspartate are chronically elevated. The lithium citrate has proven that, in a rat genetic model of Canavan Disease, the lithium citrate significantly decreased the levels of N-acetyl aspartate. When tested on a human, the subject reversed during a two week wash-out period after withdrawal of lithium. The investigation revealed both decreased N-acetyl aspartate levels in regions of the brain tested and magnetic resonance spectroscopic values that are more characteristic of normal development and myelination. This evidence suggests that a larger controlled trial of lithium may be warranted as supportive therapy for children with Canavan disease.
In addition, there are experimental trials of gene therapy. A healthy gene is cloned to take over for the defective one that causes Canavan disease.
Read more about this topic: Canavan Disease
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
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—William Burroughs (b. 1914)
“[17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)