SANTO DOMINGO, Dec 30 -- A gene mutation disease known as neurodegenerative dystonia first detected among children in the southern Dominican Republic has spread with more cases reported countrywide.
Noted Dominican neurologist Dr. Pedro Roa in disclosing this said he has carried out research with a team of foreign specialists and is organising a prevention and genetic counselling programme, the Listin Diario newspaper reported.
He said the programme will target people with a higher risk of genetic mutation leading to the development of the illness which inhibits people's movements.
Dr. Roa was interviewed as he took part in a meeting organised by the Juan Manuel Taveras Foundation, where wheelchairs were given to children who live with the condition.
He said that cases have been gradually reported in Cibao, Santo Domingo, San Cristobal and Este.
He said it is important to have a test, still unavailable in the country, to detect the condition early in order to prevent future cases in children who are the offspring of two carriers of the genetic mutation.
Source: BERNAMA-NNN-PRENSA LATINA
Read more from Oxford Journals about this rare sickness: Dystonia in neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation: outcome of bilateral pallidal stimulation
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