{"id":82497,"date":"2026-01-14T15:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T09:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=82497"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:23:19","slug":"menkes-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/menkes-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Menkes Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Menkes Disease Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the Zycubo (copper histidinate) as the first treatment for Menkes disease in pediatric patients.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Menkes Disease<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a <\/span><b>genetic disorder <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that <\/span><b>affects <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your <\/span><b>body\u2019s ability to process copper.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is<\/span><b> caused by<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a <\/span><b>mutation of the ATP7A gene located on the X chromosome. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This <\/span><b>ATP7A gene affects how the body transports copper<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and maintains copper levels.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the <\/span><b>body only uses a small amount of copper<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, even this tiny amount is required for many functions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Copper helps with metabolism, brain functioning, blood vessel and blood cell formation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, wound healing, and the <\/span><b>immune system.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Copper also <\/span><b>helps to convert iron into a usable form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the body.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is <\/span><b>naturally available in many foods <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and dietary supplements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Menkes Disease <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">usually causes <\/span><b>low copper levels <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in blood plasma, the liver, and the brain.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The condition also <\/span><b>reduces the activities of copper-dependent enzymes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the body.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Copper may accumulate in other tissues<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as the kidney.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because the condition prevents the body from using copper correctly, Menkes disease can lead to <\/span><b>serious damage to the brain and nervous system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and can <\/span><b>harm a child\u2019s development.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It <\/span><b>occurs mostly in male infants<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and is characterized by <\/span><b>coarse, kinky hair <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(leading to its <\/span><b>nickname of \u201ckinky hair disease\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), as well as<\/span><b> failure to grow and thrive.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is believed to occur in about <\/span><b>1 in 35,000 live male births.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Symptoms<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Symptoms include <\/span><b>seizures, slow growth, floppy muscles, and kinky (crinkly) hair.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Treatment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>There isn\u2019t a cure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for Menkes disease, but <\/span><b>early treatment with copper can help reduce symptoms and prolong life.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Treatment includes <\/span><b>copper replacement injections <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(also known as a copper histidine compound) to increase the development of copper in your child\u2019s body.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">Without treatment,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> most Menkes disease <\/span><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">patients do not survive past age 3.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source: <\/b><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/business\/zydus-entity-sentynls-drug-for-menkes-disease-gets-us-fda-nod\/article70506069.ece#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Menkes Disease is a genetic disorder that affects your body\u2019s ability to process copper. Read more about Menkes Disease, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":82508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,22,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-82497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-prelims-pointers","9":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","10":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}