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BREAKING NEWS: FDA Approves First Treatment for Friedreich’s Ataxia. LEARN MORE!

National Ataxia Foundation

2023 AAC

Clinical Research

Snapshot: What are somatic expansions?

In a nutshell: somatic expansions are expansions of repeat DNA sequences that accumulate in cells over an individual’s lifetime. A special kind of mutation: repeat expansion mutations Some genes naturally contain repeat sequences in the DNA. For the most part, these DNA repeats are relatively short and do not cause Read More…

A Continuous Effort Towards Treatment of SCA3

Written by Dr. Jorge Diogo Da Silva Edited by Dr. David Bushart How one research group assessed whether Rivastigmine, a Parkinson’s Disease drug, might have a role in treating SCA3 Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), also known as Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), is the most common inherited ataxia worldwide. As with Read More…

Developing therapeutically relevant biomarkers for SCA3

Written by Dr Hannah K Shorrock Edited by Dr Vitaliy V Bondar Measuring levels of polyQ ATXN3 proteins in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma distinguishes SCA3 patients from unaffected individuals For disease-modifying medicines or therapies to be approved for use in the clinic, the treatments must demonstrate success at meeting pre-set Read More…

Measuring neurodegeneration in spinocerebellar ataxias

Written by Dr Hannah K Shorrock Edited by Dr. Maria do Carmo Costa Neurofilament light chain predicts cerebellar atrophy across multiple types of spinocerebellar ataxia A team led by Alexandra Durr at the Paris Brain Institute identified that the levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein are higher in SCA1, Read More…

Snapshot: What is Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)?

Public transit may not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think about the brain, but it’s a great way to understand how all the parts of the central nervous system work together. Nutrients, hormones, and other important molecules (the passengers) need to get on and off Read More…

Four diseases, One Gene: CACNA1A

Written by Dr. Judit Pérez Edited by Dr. David Bushart A new case report describes how a new mutation in the CACNA1A gene causes ataxia with seizures. Genes and their diseases Hereditary ataxias are caused by mutations in different genes that affect how different parts of the brain and spinal Read More…

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