Identifying early symptoms of Friedreich's ataxia
George Wilmot, MD, PhD, identifies the initial Friedreich’s ataxia symptoms that physicians should watch for in their patients, including less obvious or rare symptoms.
About George Wilmot, MD, PhD
George Wilmot, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist affiliated with a few hospitals, including Emory University Hospital. He also serves as an associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology and adjunct associate professor at the the school’s Department of Pediatrics. He is an ataxia clinical researcher and he started the Cooperative Ataxia Registry.
Transcript
The main initial symptoms are going to be imbalance. It’s usually a gait problem.
Sometimes that’s hard to pick up, especially in children who are maybe changing with either adolescence or some awkwardness, or if they’re much younger, with development issues.
But it’s usually going to be a balance problem — difficulty with running, a little clumsiness, more so than normal. That would be the initial symptoms that are usually noticed.
There are rare cases where it’s a little more complicated. Screening, for instance, in school might pick up scoliosis. Sometimes, heart involvement comes very early, but that’s pretty rare.
So it’s usually imbalance. Speech is involved also, but usually the imbalance is noticed first.
Our FA medical advisor
David Lynch, MD, PhD, is the director of the Friedreich’s Ataxia Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
