Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) is debilitating, rare, progressive, life shortening, and currently not curable (though we are trying to change that last one). The list of symptoms is as follows: awkward and jerky movements (as a result of excessively impaired muscle coordination; beginning in the extremities and eventually spreading to the rest of the body), loss of sensation in the extremities (being ticklish), scoliosis (curved/bent spine), kyphosis (hunched back), dysarthria (slowness and slurring of speech), easy fatigue, shortness of breath, a weak immune system, the use of a wheelchair (usually 10 to 20 years after the appearance of the first symptoms), hearing and vision loss (in later stages), diabetes in 10%, and carbohydrate intolerance in 20%. 90% of FA patients develop some form of heart disease, the leading cause of death, which customarily occurs between ages 30 and 45. FA does not affect cognitive function. 

          Friedreich's Ataxia is classified as "recessive", and it is therefore genetically concealable. FA is caused by a mutation in both copies of an individual's FXN gene. If an individual inherits a mutated copy of the gene from both parents, he or she will have Friedreich's Ataxia. One in every 110 people carries one mutated copy of the FXN gene. If two carriers have children, each child has a one in four chance of having FA. FA affects one in 50,000 people.