Hello Friends and Family I hope that each of you are well. I just wanted to let you know that I have not forgotten you. I have had many things on my agenda for the past 6 weeks and have had to let quite a bit of my mail go unanswered. I have been asked by many people for more information on the CMT and TN since my post about these conditions in September. These conditions are evident in other family groups, but the physician that I am working with has isolated a new gene that has never before been found in any research group in any of these disorders. This gene is evident in the three families that he has been studying for over a year now and also in 3 families who live in Oregon. My husband's grandfather was in a wheelchair with CMT when I first met him in 1965. His younger brother has it very badly [he just had to retire on disability]. There are many cousins that have definitely been identified as having one or both conditions, with one being only nine years of age. So far I have had responses from people far and wide and have found that it is very evident in not only the descendants of the Messer Family who settled in Haywood County, NC, but the Messer Family who settled in Hawkins County, TN and two other family lines that are linked to the mountains of NC. The NC and TN families most likely have a common link, as there were two Christian Messers and one is at least 10 years older than the other. They both were in the same proximities in eastern NC in 1771. I have long thought that they might be cousins or uncle / nephew. I have my Christian's father, but know nothing about his lineage. I often wonder if both families were "hatched" somewhere. Here are some links where you can read about the inherited medical conditions that I am helping the neurologist with. CMT http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/charcot_doc.htm http://www.charcot-marie-tooth.org/ http://search.iwon.com/commerce/directory.jsp?categoryid=57124&alias=/alias/ --search page http://www.ultranet.com/~smith/CMTnet.html http://chorus.rad.mcw.edu/doc/00288.html http://www.cmtint.org/ http://www.cmtint.org/signs.htm this one shows a typical foot of the CMT patient http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/921392067.html http://www.charcot-marie-tooth.org/whatis.htm http://www.charcot-marie-tooth.org/cmt.htm http://www.charcot-marie-tooth.org/hnpp.htm TN http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/trigemin_doc.htm http://www.tna-support.org/ http://www.bgsm.edu/bgsm/surg-sci/ns/tn-hfs.html http://www.tna-support.org/Defiition.htm http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/921990870.html Tourettes Syndrome http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/tourette.htm http://www.angelfire.com/ok/onedayatatime/ http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/922670759.html Diabetic Neuropathy - just for reference http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/921725216.html We need all of the medical conditions that are known in the Messer family lines, especially the members who have or had the conditions, CMT / Trigeminal Neuralgia [TN] / and also Tourettes Syndrome. The main focus of the physician is on the CMT and TN. I have also included the Tourettes information as it is also a tic disorder and Diabetic Neuropathy. I also need as much family information as possible, genealogical data, that I can get to include into the file. Any help is appreciated. The neurologist is also looking at the prevalence of diabetes in the family line, since it also causes a "neuropathy". If you wish to contact the neurologist with specific questions, his name is Dr. James Lewis. His practice is at: 55 Medical Park - Suite 106 Franklin, NC 28734 828-369-7268 828-369-4488 (FAX) treehaus@dnet.net My thanks is extended to everyone who has responded with questions and information. Brenda Messer windsong@compasonline.net idigbones@compasonline.net Messerville Mayor Home Page http://members.fortunecity.com/messervillemayor/ Messerville Gazette Pages http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/ironbridge/1170