The Lily Foundation

The Lily Foundation is the UK's leading charity dedicated to fighting mitochondrial disease. Our mission is to support people whose lives are affected by the condition, raise awareness and fund research into its prevention, diagnosis and treatment. 10 million people in the UK suffer from diseases in which mitochondrial dysfunction is believed to be involved, and every day in the UK a baby is born that will develop mitochondrial disease. The Lily Foundation is fighting to change this, with our ultimate aim being to one day find a cure for mito.

What's Mitochondrial Disease?

Mitochondrial disease is a severely life-limiting genetic condition that can affect any person at any time in their life. The term in fact refers not to one specific illness but to a number of diseases caused by faulty mitochondria, the tiny 'organelles' present in every cell in our bodies and which are responsible for generating over 90% of the energy we need to live.

When mitochondria fail it can affect any part of the body in a variety of devastating ways. This makes it difficult to diagnose as the symptoms can mimic other serious illnesses. For example, someone suffering from mitochondrial disease might suffer symptoms such as poor growth, muscle weakness and pain, seizures, vision and / or hearing loss, gastrointestinal issues, learning disabilities or organ failure.
There is currently no cure for mitochondrial disease. However, it's not all bad news. Important steps have been made to make diagnosis faster, easier and less invasive to the patient, and some promising research into effective treatments is underway. The more we learn about mitochondrial disease the closer we will be to one day finding a cure.