Ataxia Charlevoix-Saguenay Foundation
Registered Name: FONDATION DE L'ATAXIE CHARLEVOIX-SAGUENAY
Business No: 856980321RR0001
This organization is designated by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a registered charity. They comply with the CRA's requirements and has been issued a charitable registration number.
Autosomal Recessive Spastic Ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay is a debilitating and hereditary progressive childhood neurological disorder.
Symptoms generally appear between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. Already at that age, the child’s motor skills are affected. The disorder progresses throughout the adolescence and adulthood (stiffness in the legs, increasing difficulty in walking to the use of a wheelchair). Ataxia affects the spinal cord and the peripheral nerves.
The name of the disorder refers to the Charlevoix-Saguenay regions located in the Province of Quebec (Canada) only because it was first discovered and described by doctors from the Province of Québec.
Even though initially more frequent in those regions, ARSACS cases have been identified around the world. ARSACS is the second most common recessive ataxia after Friedrich’s ataxia.