First published Wednesday 25 May 2016.
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Please direct media enquiries to our media team:
Tamara Hunter
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Email: Tamara Hunter
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Email: Tammy Gibbs
Rett Syndrome: the numbers
- Occurs in 1 in 9000 baby girls.
- Around 15 babies born a year across Australia.
- One a year, on average, born in WA.
- In WA, about 30 families now affected.
- More than 400 people on national database.
- Over 2000 people on international database.
- Institute now working with 200 families in China.
- About 1000 babies born in China every year.
What's next?
- Working in China on an intervention project that looks at whether an early enriched environment can limit disability and aid brain development by impacting on levels of BDNF proteins.
- Raising awareness among clinicians about the presentation of Rett syndrome MECP2 abnormalities in baby boys.
- Collecting information on individuals with a mutation in the CDKL5 gene which may have some clinical features similar to Rett syndrome.