Ataxia is a genetic disorder that
affects motor coordination in those affected with it. It causes a gradual
weakening of the muscles that are in charge of coordinating motor movement. This
causes the person afflicted with the condition to lose control of their body
gradually. This is usually seen in a decline in their ability to coordinate
their gait, poor or slurred speech, worsened posture, and loss of coordination
in the movement of the hands and eyes. It affects the eyes because it causes
atrophying of the muscles that coordinate and control eye movements. It causes
the person afflicted with the condition to lose their ability to control the
movement of their eyes which impairs their sight slowly.
Ataxia is a hereditary disease
that is passed through chromosomes in the DNA. Currently, there is no drug
therapy or ataxia treatment. However, there are physical forms of therapy that
ease the symptoms of the disease. The physical therapy that is commonly
provided is designed to stave off the worsening of the loss of muscle control
and coordination. Through regular exercise in a doctor controlled and assisted
manner, the patient suffering from ataxia can reduce the muscle atrophy that
they are exposed to. This is extremely important in making sure that their lives
are of better quality despite the disease. Optic nerve atrophy treatment is
currently also non-existent. The best optic nerve atrophy treatment currently
available in the medical spheres is a diagnosis of the underlying condition. If
the underlying condition is treated, the atrophy of the optic muscle can be
stopped. The body can then be allowed to apply its own regenerative and
restorative measures to reverse the effects. While there is no guarantee that
things will go back to how they were, it provides the hope that the person may
see as well as they did before.
Scientists have been working on
ways to diagnose ataxia in earlier stages. They have been researching the
possibility of genetic mapping of newborns to catch this condition in its early
stages. As it currently seems, ataxia treatment is still a far way off. There
has been some evidence that stem cell therapy may have beneficial effects
towards the condition but this research has its challenges. First, stem cell
research has been extremely controversial making stem cells hard to acquire.
Second, stem cell therapy is still in research and development phase. Recently,
a lot of successful cases of treatment with stem cells have been reported, and
scientists seem to have made a significant achievement in this regard.