What are the symptoms of Alpers disease?

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What are the symptoms of Alpers disease?

Seizures (refractory epilepsy) are usually the first symptom to appear. The other main symptoms are:

  • Liver disease.
  • Slowing down of thinking (mild cognitive impairment) and lessening of movements.

Together, providers call these symptoms psychomotor regression.

Other symptoms may include:

  • Anxiety and depression.
  • Brain disease (encephalopathy).
  • Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
  • Lack of growth (failure to thrive).
  • Migraine headaches with hallucinations.
  • Muscle stiffness (spasticity).
  • Muscle twitching.

As Alpers disease progresses, symptoms may include:

  • Blindness resulting from optic atrophy.
  • Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia).
  • Dementia.
  • Diseases of your heart muscle (cardiomyopathy).
  • Diseases that affect movement and coordination (ataxia).
  • Gastrointestinal diseases.
  • Loss of control of arms and legs (spastic quadriplegia, a type of cerebral palsy).
  • Liver cirrhosis or liver failure.

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