Menkes Disease Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

What Is Menkes Disease?

Basically this particular type of the disease comprising of kinky hair and even called kinky hair syndrome results in failure and the deterioration of the overall nervous system of a human’s body. This type of syndrome usually initiates during the time of infancy. There are numerous signs and symptoms associated with this type of disease and we will go through all the symptoms later in this article. All the potential patients go through a difficult time as they have metaphyseal widening and brittle hair.

However, it is very rare that symptoms starts to show up at a later stage in childhood and are not very severe. Doctors even concluded that infants who are potentially affected might be born pre-mature. However, all this can be avoided if all the necessary steps are taken in order to counter this disease. Menkes syndrome or disease is also categorized by severe seizures, growth failure and subnormal temperature. There are other features like kinky hair as mentioned earlier in this article. The hair color fades away they start appearing as silver or copper and are also easily broken.

What Causes Menkes Disease?

There are numerous causes associated with menkes syndrome and potential mutations in the ATP7A gene is possibly one of the most prominent causes of this syndrome. ATP7A placed over chromosome where the mutation is likely to take place. Mutation further results in poorly contributing copper to the cells in the body. Copper can be very dangerous as it builds up in some tissues, such as the kidneys and small intestine. On the other hand, brain and other potential tissues comprise of unusual low levels.

Limitation in supplying of copper can possibly reduce the activity on several copper-comprising enzymes that are extremely crucial for the structure and proper function of skin, hair, bone, nervous systems and blood vessels. There can be excessive neurodegeneration in the brain’s grey matter. This disease also results in twisting of arteries in the brain with split and frayed inner walls. All this potential cause can lead to blockage or rupture of the arteries in the brain and weakened bones can eventually result in fractures. There is a also a very mild form of this syndrome known as Occipital horn syndrome which starts to initiate in the very early to middle childhood. It is categorized by deposits of calcium in a bone at the foundation of a human skull.

How Can Menkes Disease Be Treated?

Proper and adequate treatment is recommended. Using injections comprising of copper supplements can actually help and result in benefiting results to the patients. While on the other hand, usage of natural remedies is also appreciated.

By : Natural Health News