Where is Friedreich’s ataxia most common?

The most prevalent inherited ataxia in the United States, affecting one in 50,000 persons, is Friedreich’s ataxia. The condition can only be contracted by those who receive two damaged copies of the gene from each parent. People with a Western European ancestry have the highest rates. The disease is named after a German doctor Nikolaus Friedreich, who originally identified it in the 1860s.