By Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay Reporter. SUNDAY, Feb. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Cat bites may look less serious than dog bites, but beware: They can cause dangerous infections, particularly when they involve the hand, new research indicates.
Donate to the National Ataxia Foundation. Causes of Ataxia. The hereditary ataxias are genetic, which means they are caused by a defect in a certain gene that is present from the start of a person's life. All of us have genes that have little mistakes or variations but most of these do not cause disease, they are called mutations.
Knowledge center. Ataxia is a lack of muscle coordination which may affect speech, eye movements, the ability to swallow, walking, picking up objects and other voluntary movements. A person with persistent ataxia may have damage in the part of the brain that controls muscle coordination-the cerebellum.his is ataxia caused by a dysfunction of the cerebellum-a region in the brain which is involved in the assimilation of sensory perception, coordination and motor control. Cerebellar ataxia causes some basic neurological problems, such as: 1  Floppiness (hypotonia).