Symptoms of Tay Sachs

General information about symptoms of Tay Sachs: The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible symptoms of Tay Sachs. This symptom information has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of symptoms of Tay Sachs. Furthermore, symptoms of Tay Sachs may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of symptoms and whether they are indeed symptoms of Tay Sachs.

List of symptoms of Tay Sachs: The list of symptoms mentioned in various sources for Tay Sachs includes:

• Loss of learned skills
• Loss of smiling
• Loss of crawling
• Loss of grabbing
• Loss of rolling over
• Blindness
• Deafness
• Unable to swallow
• Cherry-red spot in the back of their eyes
• Paralysis
• Muscle atrophy
• Dementia

Symptoms of Tay Sachs: Infants with Tay-Sachs disease appear to develop normally for the first few months of life. Then, as nerve cells become distended with fatty material, a relentless deterioration of mental and physical abilities occurs. The child becomes blind, deaf, and unable to swallow. Muscles begin to atrophy and paralysis sets in. A much rarer form of the disorder which occurs in patients in their twenties and early thirties is characterized by unsteadiness of gait and progressive neurological deterioration. Patients with Tay-Sachs have a "cherry-red" spot in the back of their eyes. The condition is caused by insufficient activity of an enzyme called hexosaminidase A that catalyzes the biodegradation of acidic fatty materials known as gangliosides. ¹

More symptoms of Tay Sachs: In addition to the above information, to get a full picture of the possible symptoms of this condition and its related conditions, it may be necessary to examine symptoms that may be caused by complications of Tay Sachs, underlying causes of Tay Sachs, associated conditions for Tay Sachs, risk factors for Tay Sachs, or other related conditions.

Medical articles on symptoms: These general reference articles may be of interest:

• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Symptoms and Medical Malpractice

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