Augusto Odone, the inventor of Lorenzo's Oil, which was named after his son Lorenzo Odone, has died in Italy at 80.
Augusto, a former World Bank economist and his wife Michaela Odone had rejected to agree to the prognosis for their son and had created an oil to save him, which later came to be known as Lorenzo's Oil.
Lorenzo was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which is a rare neurological disease that gradually destroys the brains of male children. The disease results in the accumulation of very long chain fatty acids in tissues throughout the body of a patient and may cause paralyses, blindness and the inability to speak.
Augusto and his wife consulted doctors who predicted that Lorenzo would die in childhood. However, with the help of Lozenzo's Oil, he lived till the age 30 and died in 2008, much longer than what doctors had suggested.
Augusto had no scientific training but with the passion to cure his son, he invented the oil, which seemed to be a success to a certain extent, in 1986. The husband and wife used mixture of acids from olive and rapeseed oils to create Lorenzo's Oil. The duo used the oil on their son and found positive results as his long chain fatty acids in the body started to drop to normal level.
Further research on the oil indicated that it had most effect on children who have the ALD gene but have not yet showed any symptoms of the disease.
Augusto's life ordeal was also depicted in a 1992 movie called Lorenzo's Oil. Nick Nolte starred as Augusto and Susan Sarandon as Michaela. The movie shows the two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son's disease. The movie gave hope to many young children who suffered from ALD.
The film was also nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen at the WGA Awards.
Augusto's wife died in 2000 after which he returned to Italy, where he lived till the age of 80.
