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Treating a condition with no cure
Alainrey Barroga
By LEILANIE ADRIANO
LAOAG CITY—Alainrey Gamit Barroga needs a botox injection soon, and not because he is vain.
The 38-year-old artist was diagnosed with X-linked Dystonia Parkinsonism (XDP) locally known as “lubag,” an inherited neurodegenerative condition affecting mostly males that can only be treated but for which there is no known cure.
Lubag means twist in Ilonggo, the language on Panay island where the condition was first found to be endemic by a 1975 study.
“I can’t control my head, I keep on nodding and I can’t even drink or eat,” said Barroga through an exchange of emails since he could hardly talk at the time of the interview.
Barroga’s doctor, local neurologist Agnes Cariaga-Manalo, said XDP is a movement disorder that manifests through “abnormal posturing, excessive movements and Parkinsonism” as well as in “decreased movement.”
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