FIVE QUESTIONS

1. Who was the first scientist to bring up the idea of neurofibromatosis?
2. What is neurofibromatosis?
3. How many tpyes of neurofibromatosis are there?
4. What is the rarest type of neurofibromatosis?
5. Who is the well known spokes-person for neurofibromatosis?

PICTURES

  

WHAT IS NEUROFIBROMATOSIS?

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder of the nervous system. It controls how cells form and grow. Basically you can get tumors anywhere on your nerves. Neurofibromatosis or NF is a life-long disease. There are 3 different types of Neurofibromatosis. NF1, NF2, and Schwannomatosis which is the rarest type. In NF1 you may have changes in your skin or deformed bones. NF1 usually starts at birth. In NF2 you may have hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and poor balance. In NF2 you may not see symptoms until your teen years. In Schwannomatosis you
may have intense pain.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF NEUROFIBROMATOSIS?

In 1882 neurofibromatosis was found by a German man named Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen. he was ignored when he came up with this information he got from a painting therefore he was ignored until "The Elephant Man" was published. This is a book written by Ashley Montagu. This book led other scientists to believe the preceding information.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF NEUROFIBROMATOSIS?

1. constant ringing in the ears
2. headaches
3. tumors
4. facial pain or weakness
5. feeling unsteady or off balance

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF NEUROFIBROMATOSIS?

Neurofibromatosis is  caused by a misprint in the gene that is passed from a parent to a child. This is called autosomal dominant inheritance. Nf1 is more common on chromosome 17, they call it peripheral neurofibromatosis. NF2 is more common on chromosome 22, they call it central neurofibromatosis. They call it central because the effects are not usually seen from the outside of the body. All you need is one defective gene to have the disease. The chance of passing NF to an offspring is 50%.

HOW IS NEUROFIBROMATOSIS DIAGNOSED?

There are many ways to test whether you have neurofibromatosis. Doctors will check your body for one of the following symptoms or they will giv one of the following tests to see if you have an internal version of NF.

NF1

• pea sized bumps onthe skin
• a certain number, size, and location of cafe-au-lait spots
• Lisch nodules on the irises
• Freckling under the arms or in the groin
• a tumor on the main nerve in the eye
• a family member with NF
• certain skeletal abnormalities
• MRI
• X-ray

NF2

• doctors will check for for any of the symptoms of NF2  which are hearing loss and poor balance.