MLD (metachromatic leukodystrophy) is a rare, inherited metabolic disorder that appears in early childhood. This disease prevents a child’s body from producing an enzyme needed to break down a certain fatty acid. The built-up acid gradually begins to destroy first the peripheral then the central nervous system due to a degeneration of the nerve’s myelin sheathing (the part of the cell responsible for transmitting the electric impulse much like the rubber coating of an electric cord). This results in a slow progression of various debilitating symptoms from gross motor damage (ability to walk and move), respiratory failure, and seizures to blindness and loss of mental capacity and finally to death. Most children diagnosed with this disease die before the age of ten after years of slow degeneration.