why Not many people have heard of Friedreich s ataxia (FA), a neuro-muscular disease that affects one ?
First described by German physician Nikolaus Friedreich in 1863, Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a rare disease that mainly affects the nervous system and the heart. Its major neurological symptoms include muscle weakness and, of course, ataxia, a loss of balance and coordination. It doesn’t affect parts of the brain involved in thinking. Its effects on the heart range from mild, nonsymptomatic abnormalities to life-threatening problems in the heart’s musculature.FA isn’t caused by anything a person does, and it’s not contagious. It’s a hereditary disease, caused by a defective gene that can be passed down through a family from one generation to the next. Worldwide, FA affects about one in 50,000 people, making it the most common in a group of related disorders called hereditary ataxias. It shouldn’t be confused with spinocerebellar ataxia, which refers to several other distinct types of hereditary ataxia. There’s no cure for FA, but there are treatments for its cardiac symptoms and ways t
