Chemical changes in the spinal cord in Friedreich's ataxia and motor neurone disease.

This communication reports a comparison of the chemical constitution of affected and unaffected regions of white matter in the spinal cords of Friedreich's ataxia and motor neurone disease (MND). Friedreich's ataxia is a member of the heredo-familial spino-cerebellar diseases, the mode of inheritance being mainly recessive. Most cases of MND in Europe have no family history (Spillane, 1962) and the duration of the disease is shorter than Friedreich's ataxia. Little is known ofthe aetiology of the diseases, but in both conditions specific tracts of the spinal cord are involved.