Sweet Catastrophe

Ultra-runner Tim Borland is running 63 marathons in 63 days in order to raise funds and awareness for the A-T Children’s Project in their quest for a cure or life-improving therapies for ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). A-T is a rare, neurodegenerative disease that affects children, giving them the combined symptoms of cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and cancer. Children with A-T — born seemingly healthy — are usually dependent upon wheelchairs by the age of 10 and often do not survive their teens.To run with Tim, join a tailgate party, or make a donation, please visit the A-T CureTour website. There, you can also view the daily video blog produced by filmmakers who are making an independent documentary on the A-T CureTour and enter a contest to Win a Nintendo Wii.

This disease affects an estimated 1 in 40,000 children, but it’s predicted that many who die young aren’t properly diagnosed–therefore it may be much more common than we know.

There is no cure for A-T, and there is currently no way to slow the progression of the disease. At this time, treatments are directed only toward partially alleviating some symptoms as they appear. Because A-T is a rare, “orphan” disease, very little research data is available on pharmaceutical therapies that may aid these children. Physical, occupational and speech therapy are used to help maintain flexibility, gamma-globulin injections help supplement the immune systems of A-T patients, and high-dose vitamin regimes are being undertaken with some moderate results.