Tay-Sachs Disease

Tay-Sachs disease is named after Warren Tay and Bernard Sachs. In 1881, Tay, a British ophthalmologist, described a patient with a cherry-red spot on the retina of the eye. Sachs, a New York neurologist, provided the first description of the cellular changes in Tay-Sachs disease several years later. He also observed that most babies with Tay-Sachs disease were of eastern European Jewish origin. Tay-Sachs disease is a fatal inherited disease of the central nervous system as …

…several genetic diseases and may eventually be helpful for children with Tay-Sachs. The National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) supports research to find ways to treat and prevent inherited disorders such as Tay-Sachs disease. NINDS investigators are currently conducting basic biochemical and molecular genetic research studies to try to deliver enzymes and normal (corrective) genes to the brain. Families affected by Tay-Sachs disease can contact The National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.