Friedreich ataxia
Synonyms: FA | FRDA
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder classically characterized by progressive gait and limb ataxia dysarthria dysphagia oculomotor dysfunction loss of deep tendon reflexes pyramidal tract signs scoliosis and in some cardiomyopathy diabetes mellitus visual loss and defective hearing.
Newly diagnosed with
Friedreich ataxia?
Our RARE Concierge Services Guides are available to assist you by providing information, resources and connections as you navigate your rare disease journey.
Advocacy Organizations
Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA)
FARA's Mission is to marshal and focus the resources and relationships needed to cure FA by raising funds for research, promoting public awareness, and aligning scientists, patients, clinicians, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and other organizations dedicated to curing FA and related diseases.
Syndromes Without A Name (SWAN) Australia
Provide information, support and advocacy to families caring for a child with an undiagnosed or rare genetic condition.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association
Providing support, advocacy, and education to patients, families, the medical community, and the public about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, while supporting research and fostering the development of treatments.
Ataxia and me
To relieve the needs of sufferers of Ataxia or other neurological disorders, their families and carers for the public benefit by providing patient led support and by raising awareness of such conditions."
National Ataxia Foundation
The National Ataxia Foundation (NAF) was established in 1957 to help persons with Ataxia and their families. Our mission is to accelerate the development of treatments and a cure while working to improve the lives of those living with Ataxia. NAF’s vision of a world without Ataxia will be accomplished through our primary programs of funding Ataxia research, providing vital programs and services fo
Heart of a Giant Foundation
to eliminate preventable harm attributable to and improve the management of chronic health conditions in our communities.
My Faulty Gene
My Faulty Gene is a nonprofit organization which provides information and assistance to any individual whose family medical history suggests genetic testing might be helpful in identifying an increased risk of disease due to a genetic mutation. We believe that everyone in need of genetic testing should have access to it.
Help Hope Live
Help Hope Live supports community-based fundraising for people with unmet medical expenses and related costs due to organ transplants or catastrophic injuries or illnesses. For 38 years, Help Hope Live has been showing clients and families how to bring together a network of relatives, friends, and neighbors in fundraising efforts to help cover the cost of uncovered medical expenses. These efforts play a critical role in helping our clients recover and maintain their health and independence. Since 1983, we have helped thousands of people raise millions of dollars for Help Hope Live to pay a wide range of expenses, including out-of-pocket costs for: medications, durable medical equipment, home health care, wheelchair-accessibility modifications, physical therapy, innovative treatments, medical travel and temporary relocation, even emergency living assistance. Our program has also helped thousands pay it forward and assist others with their medical expenses. Annually, we help place medical care within reach of about 5,000 families across the nation.
Moonshots for Unicorns
Curing single-gene disorders
COMBINEDBrain Inc
COMBINEDBrain is a consortium for outcome measures and biomarkers for neurodevelopmental disorders. We are collaborating to cure rare, non-verbal brain disorders.
Center for Chronic Illness
The Center for Chronic Illness (CCI) promotes well-being and decreases isolation for those impacted by ongoing health challenges through support and education.
Inclusive Skating
TO INCLUDE, INFORM AND INSPIRE people around the globe through the joy of skating, reflecting the compassion, respect and innovation that make ours the world’s premier inclusive organisation. Inclusive Skating is dedicated to the advancement of public participation in sport and the promotion of equality and diversity. Our primary objective is the development and implementation of programming which fosters the inclusion of skaters with any form of impairment or disability. Our ethos of inclusion extends to skaters of all ages and backgrounds; we welcome all with open arms. Values of empathy, integrity and empowerment are central to the pursuit of these goals. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the community, camaraderie, self-fulfilment, achievement, challenge, and thrill that participation in skating sports offers. We work to create these opportunities by offering activities, educational resources, events, training, and championships for our community.
Rare Disease Ghana Initiative
To improve the wellbeing and quality of life of persons living with undiagnosed and rare diseases in Ghana
Our Odyssey
Connecting young adults impacted by a rare or chronic condition with social and emotional support in the hope of improving their quality of life.
Jamal’s Helping Hands
Jamal's Helping Hands provides services for patients affected by rare disease and their families. With a vision to become a premier resource and national leader in education, outreach, advocacy, and support to individuals affected by rare disease. JHH enhances the quality of its clients lives by providing an array of services to make the experience of rare disease easier.
Patient Advocate Foundation
Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF), founded in 1996, is the nation’s leading direct patient services organization whose mission is to safeguard patients with chronic, life-threatening, and debilitating diseases through effective mediation of issues related to access to care and preservation of financial stability. Patients must be seeking help with any of the following needs related to their diagnosis: • Accessing prescribed healthcare, including understanding their healthcare benefits • Issues related to their health insurance benefits, including denials of care, out-of-pocket costs, network issues, and insurance options • Financial concerns, including cost-of-living expenses and medical expenses • Practical needs, including transportation and nutritional needs • Assistance with filing an application for disability Since its inception, PAF has provided direct, sustained patient assistance to more than 1.7 million patients and touched many more through its website and outreach events. Amongst the more common issues that patients and caregivers call PAF for help with include the inability to afford transportation expenses, inability to afford rent/mortgage, inability to afford their co-pay for medications, and inability to afford utilities and resulting shut-off notices. PAF serves patients with numerous health conditions, the majority of which have some form of cancer. Non-cancer diagnoses included rare diseases, chronic and debilitating conditions, nervous system conditions, cardiovascular conditions and vascular disease, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes. PAF solicits and receives donations to its programs from a multitude of sources including government agencies, non-profit organizations and for-profit organizations in the healthcare sector, including pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers. Patient Advocate Foundation also has several distinct programs targeting specific populations with an emphasis on the underserved.
Botswana Organisation for rare Diseases
advocate for Rare disease patients and their families
Clinical Trials
For a list of clinical trials in this disease area, please click here.