Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day @May 17
This is a much more serious topic and also a very important one . Neurofibromatosis is a condition that causes tumours to form in the brain,nerves,or the spinal cord.Thankfully the tumors are non cancerous but still this is a very serious and harsh disease.It is a genetic disorder.There are 3 types of this disease:Type 1 which occurs in children and type 2 and type 3 occur in adults.Type 1 can cause bone deformities, learning disabilities and high blood pressure. Type 2 can cause hearing loss, vision loss and difficulty with balance. Type 3 can cause chronic pain throughout the body. Moreover this condition is not curable.It is a very gruesome condition as well.Hope the following picture will help enhance your understanding
Luckily though it is a very rare case. In India there are fewer than one million cases every year . This is also non contagious.
Neurofibromatosis is caused by genetic defects (mutations) that either are passed on by a parent or occur spontaneously at conception. The specific genes involved depend on the type of neurofibromatosis:
- NF1. The NF1 gene is located on chromosome 17. This gene produces a protein called neurofibromin that helps regulate cell growth. The mutated gene causes a loss of neurofibromin, which allows cells to grow uncontrolled.
- NF2. The NF2 gene is located on chromosome 22, and produces a protein called merlin (also called schwannomin), which suppresses tumors. The mutated gene causes a loss of merlin, leading to uncontrolled cell growth.
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