Birth Defects
By: Samantha Dillon
Tay-Sachs
What is Tay-Sachs?
Tay- Sachs is a disease that starts showing symptoms around six months. As the disease progresses the child starts to lose body functions, first blindness, then the child will go deaf, then paralysis and finally death.
How Is Tay-Sachs Caused?
Tay Sachs is caused when a enzyme that helps breaks down fatty substances is missing. The fatty substances builds up into a toxic level in the child's brain and starts to effect the nerve cells. It is genetic
When Can Tay-Sachs Be Diagnosed?
Mostly around the six month mark, yet it can also be a little later in life, but mostly in the early childhood Tay-Sachs can be diagnosed.
How Can You Treat Tay-Sachs?
- Medication to help reduce the child's symptoms
- Respiratory care to help with any lung infection or when the lungs don't work correctly
- Feeding tubes
- Physical Therapy
- Family support
- Frequent medical check ups
What Is The Average Life Span Of Someone With Tay-Sachs?
Two to four years old, by complications in the lungs