Update Dr. Gomez 1/1/24

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 Happy New Year 🥂🫶!


What better way than to hear from Dr. Gomez

Dear Members,


Dr. Gomez shared with me the good news that the questionnaire manuscript describing ""Early-life social determinants of SCA6 age at onset, severity, and progression" has been accepted to the journal 'Cerebellum.'  Thank you to those who Dear Members,

It is with great pleasure that I share with you the report on the SCA6 questionnaire that many of you participated in. Thank you to those of you who participated in this effort! This is just the beginning and I will let you know when an electronic version is ready; Dr. Gomez and Hannah Casey are hard at work on designing the next one. 

Also one of our members shared that he recently had an eye procedure to tighten the muscles around his eyes to reduce the double vision and that it worked quite well. I added this to the top of the eye exercises I've shared in the past from Elizabeth Foss. A couple other of our members have also had positive experiences with having an eye procedure to tighten their eye muscles and others with prisms to help with double vision. My understanding is that the eye procedure can have immediate benefit but that it might not have a lasting effect, important to consider that any eye procedure has some risks. Prism inserts in glasses can be used for a while, then if symptoms get too problematic with the prisms, then an eye procedure might be needed, but then be prepared to later on begin needing prism inserts again. At least this is my very general understanding and this is only recommended for specific situations and not for everyone. If you are experiencing vision problems, I recommend seeing an expert physician, such as Dr. Gomez, who understands eye issues associated with ataxia in adults, to figure out what is the best plan for you and your specific issues.

WIth that, I hope everyone is staying warm, but still getting some fresh air outside and enjoying the first month of 2024!

Dr. Gomez, Hannah Casey, and Team are currently working to design a new electronic questionnaire that will allow more fluid learning. It is not ready yet and I'm not sure when it will be available yet, but it is in the works for 2024, so stay tuned!

Here's to wishing you all the very best for 2024!

Happy New Year!


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