Hi again,
sometimes I have to deal with mini-spasms of my head. When this happens, I often have a quick meltdown of balance/coordination issues; so I'll post here when I can manage.
I am curious as to why my family and I are stuck with Ataxia...were my ancestors too frequently eating something in particular? How did this become genetic? Maybe my ancestors were starving for a certain trace element in their diet? My great-grandmother had ataxia, but back then nobody knew what ataxia was. So her family teased her because she was so clumsy. Eventually she fell off a ladder and she banged her head. She died. But she had 14 children, about 8-9 of them developed ataxia.
If an ataxia sufferer has children, roughly 50% will have ataxia. Nobody knew this until I was in my twenties, which explains why I even have siblings and cousins. Knowing this info, if I do not have children, SCA in my family is done!! If test results for ataxia are negative, there is no way to develop this disease. Also, it is impossible to genetically pass-on these genes. Because I am the only member of my immediate family that has tested positive, my brothers and their kids and grandkids are safe. So I won't be fathering a brood. Though the fetus can be genetically tested for ataxia and, if testing positive, there is an extended period of time to terminate. Personally, I take joy from my nephews; no need for my own children.
My ancestors are from the Austria/Germany area, which is an area with above average number of ataxia sufferers. Other "warm" areas includes parts of China, Hungary/Romania...So far I haven't came across any stories or data that would point a finger at a clue.
Ill post again soon.