preview

Essay on What Is Rett Syndrome?

Decent Essays

Imagine sitting in a soundproof, glass box in the middle of a room full of people. You are uncomfortable, thirsty or hungry and lonely. Think about how frustrated you are when nobody hears, or acknowledges. You scream your requests louder, but no one in the room hears you. Now imagine that instead of a glass box, it is your own body that you are trapped in. Imagine waking up everyday to find that you cannot get out of bed or brush your teeth without assistance, and dressing yourself every morning is a daily challenge. Imagine never being able to live independently and having to rely on someone to help you every day. This scarcely brushes the surface of how to describe the disorder that is Rett Syndrome.
Symptoms
Rett Syndrome is …show more content…

Along with a loss of speaking abilities, the child has a lessened ability to express feelings. A lag in brain and head growth is often seen in a child with Rett Syndrome. A child with Rett Syndrome does not crawl, rather bottom scoots without the use of their hands. Sometimes a significant delay in walking abilities is seen in a child with Rett Syndrome, sometimes they may lose the skill, some may not walk until late childhood or adolescence, and some never have the ability to walk independently. Children with Rett Syndrome experience seizures and scoliosis, both ranging from nonexistent to severe.
History
A Viennese physician named Andreas Rett first discovered Rett Syndrome in 1954, when he noticed two girls making the same repetitive hand-writhing motions as they sat in his waiting room (Turkington, Anan 2006). After this discovery, Rett located six other girls among his patients with similar symptoms. At the same time, a Swedish physician, Bengt Hagberg began to notice similar symptoms in his own patients. In 1966, Dr. Rett published his discovery in several German medical journals, and then translated the findings into English in 1977. Though Andreas Rett first diagnosed Rett Syndrome in 1954, yet the specific genetic problem was not discovered until 1999. In an article published in 1983, called Annals of Neurology, Dr. Hagberg

Get Access