Tay-Sachs disease is a fatal inherited disease of the central nervous system as a recessive gene. The central nervous system includes the brain, the coverings of the brain, and the spinal cord. The most common form of the disease affects babies. Babies with Tay-Sachs disease lack hexosaminidase A, an enzyme that is necessary for breaking down certain fatty substances in brain and nerve cells. These fatty acids then accumulate in the brain causing neurological deterioration. Affected babies appear healthy at birth and seem to develop normally for the first few months of life. The destructive process begins in the fetus early in pregnancy.

Symptoms of classical Tay-Sachs disease first appear at 4 to 6 months of age when an apparently healthy baby gradually stops smiling, crawling or turning over, loses its ability to grasp or reach out

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