Welcome to our Branch!

East of Scotland Branch of Ataxia UK

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Latest update to home page - 13 May 2012:

Our next branch meetings are planned as follows:

• Saturday 15 Sept 2012,
  Saturday 24 Nov 2012 & early Xmas meal afterwards
  Draft meeting dates for 2013:
  Saturday 19 January 2013
  Saturday 24 March 2013
  Saturday 11 May 2013
• All our meetings take place at Lasswade High School Sports Centre from 1.30pm - 4pm (we're not sure what will happen once the new school is up and running but will keep you posted).
• Our newly elected Chair is Anne-Marie Thomson, we think she's going to be brilliant in her new role! Pete Dalby will continue as Vice Chair to offer support.

Reports of recent meetings:

• The AGM on Saturday 5 May 2012 was followed by a meal at the Laird & Dog Inn in Lasswade (nearby and fairly accessible). The meal and service were excellent, tasty and friendly (respectively) and the only problem is the toilet access which involves going right round the building and back in the front door, even then there is still a step! NB We were planning to go to the Polton Inn again, which was the venue for our Christmas meal, but it is currently closed for refurbishment.
• Our Branch Meeting on Saturday 24 March 2012 when Dr Richard Davenport talked about the different forms of ataxia and the difficulties of reaching a diagnosis.
• Our Branch Meeting on Saturday 21 January 2012 when we enjoyed a meal of haggis, neeps & tatties and a friendly chat.
• Report of September 2011 meeting is here

• Please note that the Treasurer has moved house, so if you are posting membership subs there's a new form here

• Reports of our meetings can be found on the Branch Meetings page.

• If you use a newsreader you can click RSS at the foot of this page to subscribe (copy the url into your feed reader eg Bloglines)

Ataxia means 'inability to control voluntary movements' and comes from the Greek word meaning 'disorder'. Ataxia is the principal symptom of a group of rare neurological disorders called 'cerebellar ataxias', most of which are progressive. Ataxia UK focuses on these forms of Ataxia, many of which are inherited (source of information, Ataxia UK). Forms of Ataxia include Cerebellar Ataxia (eg spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 - SCA 8) and Friedreich's Ataxia. To date, about 32 forms of SCA have been identified and research is ongoing. The Living with Ataxia page has many links to information about Ataxia.

The East of Scotland Branch (formerly the Edinburgh and Lothians Branch) was founded by Andrea Bothwell in 1995 and has about seventy members. It's our 17th anniversary in 2012! We offer regular meetings, support, companionship, advice and help to people with Ataxia, their families and friends. Many people, when newly diagnosed, don't know where to turn: we can provide a helping hand and the benefit of experience: many of our members have lived with Ataxia for up to 50 years. Send us an e mail and we can add you to our mailing list.

The UK national body, a registered charity, Ataxia UK produces a regular magazine for members, an annual conference and helpful leaflets for Ataxia sufferers, plus more technical ones for doctors. Because these conditions are so rare, many GPs don't know much about them - it's not unusual for the person with Ataxia to be the one teaching their doctor! We encourage all our members to become a friend of Ataxia UK.

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This page was last updated on Sunday May 13, 2012

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