A father in China, Mr. Xu Wei, created a home laboratory to remedy his two-year-old son Haoyang after discovering that the child only has months to live.
Unfortunately, the medicine that can help the boy's rare genetic condition is not available in China, and the borders were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Created Medicine for Dying Son
Haoyang was diagnosed with Menkes Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder that affects how copper is processed in the human body, according to StraitTimes.
Copper is important for the development of the nervous system and the brain. Those diagnosed with this condition rarely survive.
However, Xu, who ran a small online business before his son became ill, is determined to give him a fighting chance.
After he was told that his son's disease can't be cured and the only medication was not available in China, he began researching and teaching himself pharmaceuticals, according to France24.
Making homemade medicine is not something new. In 2015, it was discovered that you could make homemade morphine by using beer.
Xu's homemade medicine may not have any side effects, medical experts still wants the public to be careful in creating their own remedy.
Even though the documents on Menkes Syndrome were in English, Xu used translation software to understand every word before he created a makeshift laboratory in his father's gym.
He set up the equipment to create the medicine himself when he found out that copper histidine could help with the condition.
Xu mixed copper chloride dihydrate with histidine, water, and sodium hydroxide, which his son takes.
Blocked by COVID-19
Xu gives Haoyang a daily dose of the medicine, which gives the child the coper that his body needs. Xu claims that a few of the blood tests of his son returned to normal only two weeks after he started the treatment, according to CNA.
Although the child can't talk, he can now smile when his father talks to him. Xu's wife is currently taking care of their 5-year old daughter in another city.
Menkes Syndrome is prevalent in boys than girls. According to Rare Diseases, it is estimated that 1 in 100,000 babies have the diseases.
Xu said that he tried to sell the medicine that he created, but pharmaceutical companies did not show any interest because it does not have any commercial value and the user group is very small.
If there were no pandemic, he would have traveled abroad to treat his son, but China has closed its borders since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Xu felt that he had no choice but to create the medicine himself. Xu Jianhong, Xu's father, said that they did not believe he could do it as they deemed it to be such an impossible mission.
However, six weeks after working on the project, he produced the first vial of copper histidine. To test it, he experimented with rabbits, and he injected the treatment into himself.
When he felt fine and saw that the rabbits were okay, he increased the dosage and daily gave it to his son. However, Xu clarified that was he did was not a cure for the disease.
The treatment is efficient against certain genetic anomalies, but it will not recover. All that the medicine can do is slow down the disease.
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Written by Sophie Webster
