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Wilson Disease
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Who Gets Wilson Disease?
People who get Wilson disease inherit two abnormal copies of the ATP7B gene, one from each parent. Wilson disease carriers, who have only one copy of the abnormal gene, do not have symptoms. Most people with Wilson disease have no known family history of the disease. A person's chances of having Wilson disease increase if one or both parents have it.
About one in 40,000 people get Wilson disease. It equally affects men and women. Symptoms usually appear between ages 5 to 35, but new cases have been reported in people aged 2 to 72 years.
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References:
National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC)
July 2008
digestive.niddk.nih.gov
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