What are the signs of NF1?
According to the National Institutes of Health, there are seven common signs of NF1. NF1 is diagnosed in individuals who have two or more of these signs: • Six or more tan spots on the skin, called cafe-au-lait (French for coffee with milk) spots, that are wider than 1/5 inch before puberty, or than 3/5 inch after puberty. These spots are usually present at birth or appear by 2 years of age. Cafe-au-lait spots may increase in size and number and darken with age. • Freckles that appear under the arms or in the groin, usually by 7 years of age. • Two or more benign (noncancerous) tumors (lumps), called neurofibromas, under the skin or deeper. (A person may have a single neurofibroma without having NF.) Neurofibromas grow on nerves and are made up of cells that surround nerves and of certain other cell types. These tumors usually develop at around 10 to 15 years of age, although they may develop at any age. An affected person may have any number of neurofibromas, from a few to hundreds. T
