Tropical ataxic neuropathy

Tropical ataxic neuropathy (TAN, also known as Strachan-Scott syndrome and prisoners of war neuropathy) is a disease or category of diseases that commonly causes disability and increases mortality. The causes of TAN are not understood; there is no generally accepted treatment, and the reported outcomes are inconsistent.

The disease affects poor tropical populations; there are no good statistics on how many people are affected worldwide, but in some populations, more than a quarter of people are affected. Malnutrition may play a role.

TAN is one of many tropical myeloneuropathies. It was first described in Jamaica in 1897, by postmortems of 510 cases; in 1959, it was dubbed "tropical ataxic neuropathy".