Diagnosing ALD

It is essential to diagnose ALD as early as possible. All the evidence indicates that the two currently available treatments for the disease—Lorenzo’s oil and stem cell transplantation—only work during a very narrow window either before symptoms develop, or very early after their onset. Once the disease has progressed and symptoms have become severe, there are currently no treatments that can replace the lost myelin and the only treatments available are palliative.

Unfortunately, cases of ALD are often missed or misdiagnosed during the critical period of early onset. This is often because diagnosing ALD can be a tremendous challenge for many physicians. The earliest symptoms of the disorder in childhood can easily be mistaken for a number of other, much milder and much more common developmental and behavioral problems, such as attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) or learning disabilities.