Lorenzo's Oil Movie Review.

Essay by spongebuddy514High School, 10th gradeA+, October 2003

download word file, 4 pages 3.8

Downloaded 45 times

The movie, "Lorenzo's Oil", was about a family that found out that their son had been diagnosed with a rare, genetic disorder of which was considered incurable. The sex-linked disorder ALD, passed on by the x-chromosome, of which is usually accompanied by the unfortunate fate of death, has also been known to bring forth muteness, blindness, comas, seizures, and deafness. With no known cure for ALD, or any possible way of escaping its final result (death), doctors would use a special treatment to prevent any further deterioration of the brain, depending of course on the severity of the damage done prior to treatment. In Lorenzo's case, the disorder had already corrupted too large of an area of his brain so the treatment given by the doctors would have been of little help to him. In most cases, death occurs nine months after diagnosis, however, Lorenzo's parents refused to let death be his only option and they did their best to find another treatment to help their boy.

This movie relates to chemistry in many ways, especially in the sense that there were chemical imbalances observed and the reactions of these imbalances were noted for future reference. As a major component in the medical field, chemistry is used in producing new solutions, observing their reactions, and testing the effectiveness of these solutions in treating or curing various illnesses. This is shown when Lorenzo's parents continuously perform their experiments of mixing various substances and noting their ability to lower fat build-up in hopes of finding a cure to their son's diminishing health.

If put under the same circumstances that Lorenzo's parents were put under, I believe that I would go to the same lengths in attempting to find some kind of treatment for my child. I think that my maternal...