Rare genetic disorder of the white matter of the brain
Medical condition
Alexander disease
Brain of a 4-year-old boy with Alexander disease showing macroencephaly and periventricular leukomalacia (note brownish discoloration around the cerebral ventricles)
Specialty
Endocrinology, neurology
Alexander disease is a very rare autosomal dominant leukodystrophy, which are neurological conditions caused by anomalies in the myelin which protects nerve fibers in the brain. The most common type is the infantile form that usually begins during the first two years of life. Symptoms include mental and physical developmental delays, followed by the loss of developmental milestones, an abnormal increase in head size and seizures. The juvenile form of Alexander disease has an onset between the ages of 2 and 13 years. These children may have excessive vomiting, difficulty swallowing and speaking, poor coordination, and loss of motor control. Adult-onset forms of Alexander disease are less common. The symptoms sometimes mimic those of Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis, or may present primarily as a psychiatric disorder.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the destruction of white matter is accompanied by the formation of Rosenthal fibers—abnormal clumps of protein that accumulate in astrocytes in the brain.
The disease occurs in both males and females, and no ethnic, racial, geographic or cultural/economic differences are seen in its distribution. Alexander disease is a progressive and often fatal disease.[1]
^"Alexander Disease Information Page". National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Alexanderdisease is a very rare autosomal dominant leukodystrophy, which are neurological conditions caused by anomalies in the myelin which protects...
accounts, Alexander's body began to decompose six days after his death. Proposed causes of Alexander's death include alcoholic liver disease, fever, and...
leukodystrophies (brain white matter degeneration) such as Alexanderdisease, Canavan disease, and megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical...
leukodystrophy (MLD), (2) Krabbe disease, (3) X-Linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), (4) Canavan disease, and (5) Alexanderdisease. Each type of leukodystrophy...
include such diseases as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (and a variant associated with mad cow disease) and other prion diseases, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's...
up-regulation of GFAP. Another condition directly related to GFAP is Alexanderdisease, a rare genetic disorder. Its symptoms include mental and physical...
An eponymous disease is a disease, disorder, condition, or syndrome named after a person, usually the physician or other health care professional who first...
Alexander Technique may be helpful for long-term back pain and for long-term neck pain, and that it could help people cope with Parkinson's disease....
Epidemiology Division, and a new Veterinary Diseases Division was established. In 1951, Chief Epidemiologist Alexander Langmuir's warnings of potential biological...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease in the United States, is a rare but terminal neurodegenerative...
is associated with either pilocytic astrocytoma (more common) or Alexander'sdisease (a rare leukodystrophy). They are also seen in the context of fucosidosis...
Rh disease (also known as rhesus isoimmunization, Rh (D) disease, or rhesus incompatibility, and blue baby disease) is a type of hemolytic disease of...
S; Calisher, Charles H (2003). "Alexander the Great and West Nile Virus Encephalitis". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 9 (12): 1599–1603. doi:10.3201/eid0912...
Whether Castleman disease should be considered an autoimmune disease, cancer, or infectious disease is currently unknown. Castleman disease includes at least...
issues such as premature aging, desmin mutations compromising organs, AlexanderDisease, and muscular dystrophy. Different intermediate filaments are: made...
Batten disease is a fatal disease of the nervous system that typically begins in childhood. Onset of symptoms is usually between 5 and 10 years of age...
Barbara Dudley Alexander is an American infectious disease physician. She is a professor of medicine and pathology at the Duke University School of Medicine...