A family with forty-five members is described, twenty-one of whom have suffered from
periodic episodes of paralysis. The illness starts in the first decade and is characterized by
episodes of paralysis at intervals of one to three months lasting from two days to three
weeks, often of a severe degree including quadriplegia and weakness of the muscles of
mastication but excluding facial expression, bladder and bowel function, and respiration.
Sensory loss to pain and temperature occurred in one patient studied. The pattern of …