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The Dorsal Root

Genetic Heterogeneity

Many Roads, One Disease

Genetic heterogeneity (het-er-oh-juh-NEE-ih-tee) means that different genetic causes can produce the same or a very similar disease. It takes two main forms. Allelic heterogeneity is when different mutations within the same gene lead to the same disease. Locus heterogeneity is when mutations in entirely different genes cause the same disease. CMT is a strong example: many different genes, and many different variants within them, can all produce the disease.

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The Dorsal Root

A Name That Does Too Much Work

Jean-Martin Charcot's name appears throughout medicine, but nowhere does it create more confusion than in the foot. Learn why the CMT foot and Charcot neuroarthropathy, also known as Charcot foot, share a name yet differ in how they develop, appear, and are managed.

Close-up of a doctor’s hand holding a prescription pad while a patient’s wrist is wrapped with metal chains.

When Medicine Lost Its Compass

Evidence failed not because it was wrong, but because it was weaponized. I lived the downstream effects of that failure for more than a decade. This is what happens when medicine forgets that data always ends in a human being.

Illustrated graphic showing large ‘404’ numerals with people interacting with data screens and servers, alongside text reading ‘CMT Genetic Testing Error 404: Gene Not Found’ and ‘Examining Why Less Than Half of All Who Have Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Are Not Able to Obtain Genetic Confirmation of Their Disease.

Error 404: Gene Not Found

CMT genetic testing often fails to identify the cause of the disease, even when comprehensive panels are used. Here, we discuss why this happens, what genetic tests can and cannot do, and why a negative result still matters.

Experts in CMT

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