Dictionary

Alexander disease en · NOUN

Etymology

Named after the American physician Dr. W. Stewart Alexander, who was the first to describe the disorder in 1949.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A rare, progressive, and usually fatal neurological disorder; classified as a leukodystrophy, it is fundamentally a disease of the brain’s astrocytes; caused by genetic mutations that lead to the abnormal accumulation of proteins, known as Rosenthal fibers, which destroy the protective myelin sheath in the central nervous system.

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