But other members of his extended family have not been so lucky. They also live with the condition known unofficially as Beehive Syndrome, after Utah's nickname.
Now, the family may hold the key to solving the disease's mysteries.
Thatcher and 29 relatives participated in a University of Utah study that may have helped researchers pinpoint the genetic cause of this rare medical disorder. Of the 30 participants, 18 share a single genetic mutation.
"If you have the mutation, there's a 100 percent chance you'll be affected," said Kang Zhang, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the U.'s Moran Eye Center. A report on the study appears in this month's edition of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Severe versions of the disease, which occur among Thatcher's relatives, can leave patients legally blind and with severe hearing loss. Beehive Syndrome has left some of Thatcher's family almost incapacitated, while others with the genetic mutation lead normal lives.
"It's tough. I guess you just get used to it after a while," said Thatcher, who has undergone laser surgery to improve his eyesight.
In milder versions of Beehive Syndrome, patients often endure poor vision, some hearing loss, drooping upper eyelids and difficulty in moving their eyes, Zhang said.
Thatcher, 46, said he always had droopy eyes and some loss of hearing, but the problems never seemed related.
"I thought it was from going to too many concerts," he joked about his hearing. But about 20 years ago, he and others in his family participated in the original study that identified the combination of problems as being related to one syndrome.
Symptoms of the disease appeared in 23 of 96 family members from the original study. Since then, doctors have diagnosed the problem in families in Cleveland and Belgium.
The disease seems to cluster in families, allowing researchers to conduct a concentrated genetic search. Thatcher and some of his relatives agreed to participate in the follow-up study, giving blood and taking hearing and vision tests.
Zhang said the culprit gene, called OPA 1, is found on Chromosome 3, one of 24 units that carry a person's DNA. This gene is involved in mitochondria, which are the powerhouses of the cell. Seeing and hearing both require high levels of energy.
Armed with this genetic knowledge, researchers hope to develop therapies as well as predictive tests.
"We could provide genetic testing for the kids that are too young to manifest symptoms yet," Zhang said, who was the main author, along with fellow U. researcher Marielle Payne.
The National Institutes of Health and Research to Prevent Blindness, among other groups, funded the research. Other groups involved in the study included: the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, the Division of Otolaryngology, both at the U.; the Mountain View Eye Center, Layton; Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; and the Sichuan Provincial Medical Academy, China.
Of Thatcher's three children, one carries the genetic mutation and she does not seem to show any symptoms yet. He is hopeful his family's participation leads to benefits.
Thatcher said "we're hoping eventually they figure out a way to do something about the gene so we don't pass it on anymore."
glavine@sltrib.com
