Twenty-nine Friedreich ataxia patients were identified in Norway, of which 23 were ethnic Norwegian, corresponding to a prevalence of 1:176 000 and 1:191 000, respectively. In this first thorough study of a complete national cohort of Friedreich ataxia patients, and first nation-wide study of Friedreich ataxia in Norway, the prevalence of Friedreich ataxia in Norway is lower than in Central Europe, but higher than in the last Norwegian report, and as expected from migration studies. A south-north prevalence gradient is present. Based on Hardy Weinberg's equilibrium, the carrier frequency of 1:196 is consistent with the observed prevalence.

Read more: Friedreich ataxia in Norway - an epidemiological, molecular and clinical study