News within Clinical Medicine
National Ataxia Clinic at Tallaght University Hospital
To mark International Ataxia Awareness Day on 25th September the Neurology team at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) have published a leaflet on the Ataxia Clinic.
Ataxias are a group of rare neurological disorders with a variety of underlying causes characterised by slowly progressive combination of gait instability, limb incoordination, slurred speech and nystagmus.
Friedreich's ataxia is the most common inherited ataxia in Caucasians with an estimated prevalence in Western Europe between 1:20,000 and 1:50,000, where Ireland has been reported to have one of the highest observed Friedreich's ataxia prevalence at 1:23,000 affecting between 1:35,000 and 1:50, 000.
The National Ataxia Clinic in TUH is the only designated centre of expertise in Ireland. This is a multidisciplinary clinic. It is co-directed by Dr Sinead Murphy and Dr Richard Walsh, Consultant Neurologists.