Lorenzo's Oil

Lorenzo's Oil is a gripping story about a young boy who is diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and the effort and support this child received from his parents trying to save him from the inevitable: death.

I was amazed at this true story in general. Being a biology major, we are constanly reading material from many divisions of biology. Lorenzo's parents, in order to understand their son's disease, were doing the same thing. They spent so many hours in the NIH library reading tons of articles not only understanding their son's disease but how and why it was working on him. This was simple research. Because of their effort, they ended up finding a way for Lorenzo to get back on the path to health.

I loved the fact that the simple research was the fact that helped Lorenzo. In today's world, people get so hung up with the up-and-coming tehcnology, that they forget the little things. I feel this movie shows that just because we have the technology available to us, does not always mean its the way to go and will give us all the answers. We, as a community, still need to work hard to get what we need and to find answers to the questions that we have.

I think the other thing that blew me away with Lorenzo's parents was their determination. It seems like everytime someone was shutting a door on them, saying no, or discouraging them from doing what was in their gut, they did it anyway. For instance, the parents at the ALD committee, seemed as if they had the same feelings as Lorenzo's parents, but were quickly shut down when faced with controversy, whereas Lorenzo's parents wanted to continue debating why the parents should listen to the doctors when their child's blood fat count kept increasing. Lorenzo's parents felt this shouldn't be happening on the diet if the purpose of the diet itself was to attempt to decrease the blood fats not increase them. It seemed as if the other parents were taking no for an answer and taking the doctor's word as real, when the doctors did not even really know what ALD was, in a below the surface kind of way. I loved the determination Lorenzo's parents also showed when it came to the care that their son received. They felt it was of utmost importance that he received top of the line care from nurses, not when it came down to medicine and such, but when it came to making sure Lorenzo was encouraged, loved and mentally challenged (though he had a neurological problem).

All in all, I feel everyone should watch this movie, regardless of whether one knows about biology or not. This is a true story about determination and simplicity that turned a complicated situation into something life-saving. This movie leaves the opportunity open to learn something new.