GENETIC SELECTION

Friedreich's ataxia: 1500 Affected In the UK
25/09/1995

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	Each child starts out with the same odds
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The genetic disorder, Friedreich's ataxia, currently affects over 1500 people in the UK. It is an inherited disease of the central nervous system in which there is a progressive deterioration of co-ordination and muscle control, characterised by unsteadiness and loss of balance as well as slurring of speech and curvature of the spine. Symptoms usually first appear between the ages of 4-16.

Usually within 15-20 years after the first appearance of the symptoms, the person is confined to a wheelchair and life expectancy is much reduced.

Friedreich's ataxia is a recessive disorder, which means that an individual must inherit two affected genes, one from each parent, for the disease to develop. A person who has only one abnormal copy of the gene is a carrier. They will not develop the disease but could pass the affected gene on to their children.

Any children that two parent carriers may have will have a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting the disorder and a 1 in 2 chance of becoming a carrier themselves. Annie Kaye (16), has recently been diagnosed with the disorder, "any kid of two carrier parents has the same odds. Whether they have one child or twenty one children. Each child is like a new lottery ticket -we all start out with the same odds." Annie has a younger brother, Ryan (14), who is also, as yet, unsure as to whether he will also be affected by the disorder.