Most patients will not exhibit all of these symptoms, but more than one of these symptoms will be present in a patient who has been diagnosed with MERRF disease. Mitochondrial disorders, including MERRF, may present at any age. Due to the multiple symptoms presented by the individual, the severity of the syndrome is very difficult to evaluate. Causes
The cause of MERRF disorder is due to mutations in the mitochondrial genome. This means that it is a pathological variant in mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) and is transmitted by maternal inheritance. Four point mutations in the genome can be identified that are associated with MERRF: m.A8344G, m.T8356C, m.G8361A, and m.G8363A. The point mutation m.A8344G is most commonly associated with MERRF, in a study published by Paul Jose Lorenzoni from the Department of neurology at University of Panama stated that 80% of the patients with MERRF disease exhibited this point mutation. This point mutation disrupts the mitochondrial gene for tRNA-Lys. This disrupts the synthesis of proteins. The remaining mutations only account for 10% of cases, and the remaining 10% of the patients with MERRF did not have an identifiable mutation in the mitochondrial DNA.Many genes are involved. These genes include:

MT-TK
MT-TL1
MT-TH
MT-TS1
MT-TS2
MT-TFIt involves the following characteristics:

progressive myoclonic epilepsy
"Ragged Red Fibers" - clumps of diseased mitochondria accumulate in the subsarcolemmal region of the muscle fiber and appear as "Ragged Red Fibers" when muscle is stained with modified Gömöri trichrome stain.There is currently no cure for MERRF. Mechanism
The mechanism by which MERRFs syndrome occur is not yet well understood.
The patients history might also exhibit kidney problems, such as proximal nephron dysfunction. There may also be endocrine conditions, such as diabetes or hypoparathyroidism. The patient might have also had a gastrointestinal condition which could have been due to liver disease, as well as episodes of nausea or vomiting. Multiple lipomas in the skin, sideroblastic anemia and pancytopenia in the metabolic system, or short stature might all be examples of patients with possible symptoms of MERRF disease. Treatment
Like many mitochondrial diseases, there is no cure for MERRF, no matter the means for diagnosis of the disease. The treatment is primarily symptomatic. High doses of coenzyme Q10, B complex vitamins, and L-Carnitine are used for the altered metabolic processing that results in the disease. There is very little success with these treatments as therapies in hopes of improving mitochondrial function. The treatment only alleviates symptoms, and these do not prevent the disease from progressing. Patients with concomitant disease, such as diabetes, deafness, or cardiac disease, are treated in combination to manage symptoms. Research
The Journal of Child Neurology published a paper that discusses possible new methods to test for MERRF and other mitochondrial diseases through a simple swabbing technique. This is a less invasive technique which allows for an analysis of buccal mitochondrial DNA, and showed significant amounts of the common 5 kb and 7.4 kb mitochondrial DNA deletions, which are also detectable in blood.