HELP ................?

Hi people
My teacher said to do a presentation of
Spinocerebellar ataxia?

But what I want to ask is,,that I read that (it ) was caused also

by an unknown factor .......is it true ?

and can you plz give me some advice of how to slow to

process ?

Thanks in advance

Lithium improves function in mice with form of ataxia
HOUSTON -- (May 29, 2007) -- Feeding lithium to mice that have a neurodegenerative disease called spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) improved their coordination, learning and memory, even after early symptoms of the disease had appeared, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears online today in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.

"This did not cure them," said Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi, professor of molecular and human genetics, pediatrics and neurology at BCM, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the senior author on this paper. "It improves the symptoms, but we do not know how it will affect the disease long-term."

She warns that the drug needs further testing before it can be considered for treatment in people with spinocerebellar ataxia 1.

"It needs to be tested first in a few patients to see if they tolerate it," she said. Lithium is best known as a treatment for people with bipolar disorders, which involves wide swings in mood. If it is safe, larger studies can be undertaken.

"The polyglutamine disorders, including SCA1, have been the focus of extraordinarily creative and productive laboratory-based science," said Dr. Katerina Gwinn, director of the extramural research program of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke. "The field is primed for translation into clinical efforts, and this possibility of a Phase I study in lithium, based on Dr. Zoghbi's work, is an extremely exciting step towards finding therapeutics to help people with these currently untreatable disorders."
more on link below.......
http://www.bcm.edu/news/item.cfm?newsID=...




MORE INFO**********

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Ills of Lincoln Kin Tied To Broken Nerve Cells

A nervous-system disease that has affected 11 generations of Abraham Lincoln's family may be linked to a genetic mutation that causes nerve cells to break.

When the same gene was disabled in nematode worms, their nerve cells literally broke, and a University of Utah study said that finding could explain the origin of the disease called spinocerebellar ataxia Type 5.

"Were Lincoln's nerves shattered? We don't know, but our study raises the possibility that they were," said biology professor Michael Bastiani, lead author of the study, published yesterday in the Journal of Cell Biology.

-- From News Services

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...



CAUSES**********

Disorders that cause cells in the brain to degenerate or atrophy is one cause. But many ataxias are hereditary and are classified by chromosomal location and pattern of inheritance: autosomal dominant, in which the affected person inherits a normal gene from one parent and a faulty gene from the other parent; and autosomal recessive, in which both parents pass on a copy of the faulty gene. Among the more common inherited ataxias are Friedreich鈥檚 ataxia and Machado-Joseph disease. Sporadic ataxias can also occur in families with no prior history.

Ataxia can also be acquired. Conditions that can cause acquired ataxia include stroke, multiple sclerosis, tumors, alcoholism, peripheral neuropathy, metabolic disorders, and vitamin deficiencies.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/ataxi...

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