A great reason to stay in bed:

Love a sleep in? Here’s a great reason to love it even more. Sunday is Stay in Bed Day and Australians are being urged to buy a guilt-free sleep- in and join celebrity ambassadors like TV personality Jamie Durie, actors Kate Ritchie and John Howard.

By doing so, you will help the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (AMDF) support sufferers and find a cure.

Schools around Australia have been practising for Stay in Bed Day with pyjama days to support schoolmates with mitochondrial disease (mito).

AMDF chief executive Sean Murray said mitochondrial disease is a devastating and potentially fatal disorder for which there are as yet few effective treatments and no cure.

“Mitochondria are the powerhouses in our cells that convert food and oxygen into energy, so mitochondrial disease impairs the body’s ability to power and sustain muscles and major organs like your brain, muscles, heart, liver, inner ears and eyes, causing multiple organ dysfunction or failure,” Mr Murray said.

“Mito can cause any symptom in any organ at any age and often affects multiple family members. It was originally thought to be very rare, but we now know that 1 in 200 people – more than 100,000 Australians – may develop mito in their lifetime.”

Depending on which parts of their bodies are affected and to what extent, sufferers can lose their sight or hearing, be unable to walk, eat or talk normally, have strokes or seizures, or develop heart problems, liver disease, diabetes, or respiratory or digestive problems.

“Needing to stay in bed to rest and recharge is a common outward symptom of mitochondrial disease, so we’re asking people to support sufferers by buying sleep-ins for themselves or loved ones at stayinbedday.org.au,” he said.

If you want to raise money to help sufferers of mitochondrial disease you can set up a fundraising pageat the Stay in Bed Day website – it takes only a few minutes - and then contact family, friends and colleagues to ask for their support.

Or you can sponsor others having a sleep-in for Stay in Bed Day at www.stayinbedday.org.au.