Tay-Sachs Disease Support Group

Tay-Sachs disease (also known as GM2 variant B) and its variant forms are caused by a deficiency in the enzyme beta-hexosaminidase A. The incidence is particularly high among Eastern European and Ashkenazi Jewish populations, as well as certain French Canadians and Louisianan Cajuns. Affected children appear to develop normally for the first few months of life. Symptoms begin by 6 months of age and include progressive loss of mental ability, dementia, decreased eye contact, increased startle reflex to noise, progressive loss of hearing leading to deafness, difficulty in swallowing, blindness, cherry-red spots in the retinas, and some paralysis. Seizures may begin in the child’s second year. Children may eventually need a feeding tube and they often die by age 4 from recurring infection. No specific treatment is available. Anticonvulsant medications may initially control seizures. Other supportive treatment includes proper nutrition and hydration and techniques to keep the airway open. 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.

Sandhoff disease (variant AB) is a severe form of Tay-Sachs disease. Onset usually occurs at the age of 6 months and is not limited to any ethnic group. Neurological symptoms may include progressive deterioration of the central nervous system, motor weakness, early blindness, marked startle response to sound, spasticity, myoclonus (shock-like contractions of a muscle), seizures, macrocephaly (an abnormally enlarged head), and cherry-red spots in the eye. Other symptoms may include frequent respiratory infections, murmurs of the heart, doll-like facial features, and an enlarged liver and spleen. There is no specific treatment for Sandhoff disease. As with Tay-Sachs disease, supportive treatment includes keeping the airway open and proper nutrition and hydration. Anticonvulsant medications may initially control seizures. Children generally die by age 3 from respiratory infections.