Refsum disease is an autosomalrecessive[5]neurological disease that results in the over-accumulation of phytanic acid in cells and tissues. It is one of several disorders named after Norwegian neurologist Sigvald Bernhard Refsum (1907–1991).[6][7] Refsum disease typically is adolescent onset and is diagnosed by above average levels of phytanic acid. Humans obtain the necessary phytanic acid primarily through diet. It is still unclear what function phytanic acid plays physiologically in humans, but has been found to regulate fatty acid metabolism in the liver of mice.[8]
^Refsum S (1945). "Heredoataxia hemeralopica polyneuritiformis - et tidligere ikke beskrevet familiært syndrom? En foreløbig meddelelse". Nordisk Medicin (in Norwegian). 28: 2682–6.
^Refsum S (1946). "Heredopathia atactica polyneuritiformis. A familial syndrome not hitherto described. A contribution to the clinical study of hereditary diseases of the nervous system". Acta Psych. Neur. (Suppl.38): 1–303.
^Nogueira, C.; Meehan, T. & O’Donoghue, G. (2014). "Refsum's Disease and Cochlear Implantation". Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology. 123 (6): 425–7. doi:10.1177/0003489414526846. PMID24690989. S2CID39345035.