How common is ataxia?
Acute ataxia can be a relatively common complication of conditions such as stroke, encephalitis (infection of the brain), and multiple sclerosis. Hereditary ataxia is rare. For example, in England, Friedreich’s ataxia, which is the most common type of hereditary ataxia, is estimated to develop in 1-2 people out of 50,000. Men and women are equally affected. Both ataxia-telangiectasia and spinocerebellar ataxia are estimated to develop in 1 out of every 100,000 people in England, although higher rates of ataxia-telangiectasia have been reported in other countries.
