For mitochondrial cardiomyopathies, including Friedreich’s, we may not have a cure, but we have multiple drugs that seem to help

A particular thing about these hearts is that, over time, they maintain good systolic function [contraction of the heart muscle].

The heart symptoms may have irregular heart rhythms, which they can feel as palpitations, as the heart beats faster or

The cardiomyopathy in Friedreich’s is typically hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. That means the walls of the heart get really thick. This thickening

Almost all the publications on this disease are on the neurologic impact, but heart disease is what kills people. Unfortunately,

Treatments for Friedreich’s ataxia (F A) generally target specific symptoms rather than the disease itself. Fortunately, F A’s most life-threatening

One approach to treating F A would be to supply functional frataxin genes or protein molecules to the person with

HDAC inhibition The biotechnology company Repligen has received MDA support for the development of an experimental treatment for FA known

Another approach to treating FA involves inserting new frataxin protein molecules. Recent research has shown that the frataxin protein can

Iron chelation — the trapping of harmful, unbound iron — is a possible therapy for FA. A 2008 study in