A Rare Childhood Disease Finally Mapped
For children with AHC what happens in the first five years changes everything
April 22, 2026
For families of children born with alternating hemiplegia of childhood, the questions begin almost immediately: Will it get worse? How long do we have? What should we prepare for?
The clearest answers yet are emerging and changing how doctors and families understand the course of a rare neurological disorder.
The research traces the natural history of alternating hemiplegia of childhood, or AHC, a condition so rare that it affects roughly one in a million children worldwide. A landmark study by Duke University School of Medicine clarifies what clinicians could only guess and reinforces why early intervention and careful monitoring may be critical.
“This is the kind of information families have been asking about for decades,” said senior study author Mohamad Mikati, MD, professor of pediatrics and neurobiology who has helped build one the most robust AHC clinics in the world at Duke Health. “We finally have a clearer picture of the trajectory.” For the whole article follow the link
