Tay-Sachs Disease Analysis
Tay-Sachs is a devastating disease affecting lysosomal storage. According to McCance & Huether (2014), it is due to a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme hexosaminidates A (HexA) that’s function is to degrade GM2 gangliosides (fatty acids) in nerve cells. Those diagnosed with Tay-Sachs do not have the ability to degrade this fatty acid and as a result, it builds up in the body causing nerve cell toxicity. It is genetically inherited through an autosomal recessive pattern meaning that both parents are carriers of the disease (“Tay-Sachs,” n.d.). One can be a carrier of the gene but not necessarily show symptoms. The disease is common amongst, “French Canadians, Louisiana Cajuns, and Ashkenazi Jews” all of which have a carrier rate of 1 per 27
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This happens fairly quickly as children usually start to have symptoms at three to six months of age (McCance & Huether, 2014). “With time, neurons become distorted and balloon, and microglial cells, which also are swollen and filled with large granules, proliferate” (McCance & Huether, 2014, p. 674). The brain will then start to atrophy and neurons will die. The spinal cord’s motor cells will start to change resulting in hypotonia, hyporeflexia, and weakness (McCance & Huether, 2014). Parents may notice that their baby is not reaching important developmental milestones such as rolling over or crawling. Other pathological symptoms include, seizures, increased startle reflex in babies, hearing and vision loss, paralysis, and decreased intellectual ability (“Learning About,” n.d.).
This disease currently has no beneficial clinical therapy as the child usually dies by the age of five (McCance & Huether, 2014). Palliative care with a key emphasis on comfort seems to be the only treatment with this disease. At the minimal chance that a person with this devastating disease was to live longer into adulthood then treatment would merely be aimed at minimizing symptoms. However, signs and symptoms can appear later “in childhood, adolescence or adulthood and are usually milder than those seen with the infantile form” (“Tay-Sachs,”
This happens fairly quickly as children usually start to have symptoms at three to six months of age (McCance & Huether, 2014). “With time, neurons become distorted and balloon, and microglial cells, which also are swollen and filled with large granules, proliferate” (McCance & Huether, 2014, p. 674). The brain will then start to atrophy and neurons will die. The spinal cord’s motor cells will start to change resulting in hypotonia, hyporeflexia, and weakness (McCance & Huether, 2014). Parents may notice that their baby is not reaching important developmental milestones such as rolling over or crawling. Other pathological symptoms include, seizures, increased startle reflex in babies, hearing and vision loss, paralysis, and decreased intellectual ability (“Learning About,” n.d.).
This disease currently has no beneficial clinical therapy as the child usually dies by the age of five (McCance & Huether, 2014). Palliative care with a key emphasis on comfort seems to be the only treatment with this disease. At the minimal chance that a person with this devastating disease was to live longer into adulthood then treatment would merely be aimed at minimizing symptoms. However, signs and symptoms can appear later “in childhood, adolescence or adulthood and are usually milder than those seen with the infantile form” (“Tay-Sachs,”