Seattle Post Intellegencer

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<A HREF= " http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/102183_gene31.shtml " >Scientists

strike back at nerve disorder that c…</A>

The article starts like this, then has lots of information. At least having a

front page spread is a start. One of my friends called to alert me before I'd

seen it.

Tuesday, December 31, 2002

Scientists strike back at nerve disorder that cost them their dreams

By CAROL SMITH

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Phil Chance wanted to be a concert clarinetist. Street hoped to

become a veterinarian.

A little-understood genetic defect that can cause severe nerve damage cost

them their dreams.

Today, as University of Washington scientists, they're striking back.

In their Seattle lab, the researchers have located one of the key genes that

causes Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a hereditary condition affecting the nerves that

deliver messages from the spinal cord to the muscles.

Their findings, possibly a step toward a cure, will be published in January

in the journal Neurology.

Although few people have heard of Charcot-Marie-Tooth, it affects as many

people as cystic fibrosis.

CMT is not a benign disorder, but unlike high-profile diseases such as

Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, it hasn't attracted much research interest.

Kat

Seattle USA

http://www.icewindow.com

KathleenLS@...

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for this informative article. As with the family

in this article my Mothers side of the family has always had high

arches and hammer toes and as it turned out they did have CMT but it

did not seem to slow any of them down. For me and my brother this

news was not so good because my Dad's family has CMT and they found

out that both of his parents had it, but my Grandmother had had no

problems with it in her life; so until the testing no one knew. We

were unable to find out if my Mothers father had it but I guess it

really does not matter. I have 4 children and non of them have shown

any signs of it so far, but now that we know how easy it is to pass

on to our children all of them have been educated about genetics and

they stay away from any meds on the no no list just in case.

Hugs

Lori