Tay-Sachs is an inherited disease that destroys neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The most common forms of Tay-Sachs appear in infancy, the infant 's affected by the disease generally show no signs, until 3 to 6 months of age. Infants affected by the disease lose motor skills, they also have a tendency to be startled easily especially by loud noises. Infants will begin to have seizures and develop hearing and vision loss, intellectual disability, and paralysis as the conditions progresses. Children that affected by Tay-Sachs generally only live till early childhood. Tay-Sachs can occur in children, adolescents, and adulthood. However, these cases are extremely rare and the symptoms are generally much more mild when compared to the
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The main goal is to manage the disease by offering medication and emotional support, to allow the child better quality of life. Seizure medication can be administered in an attempt to control the quantity and the severity of the seizures the child may endure. Respiratory therapy is another management technique that can be conducted for the child, provided this treatment becomes necessary. Children with Tay-Sachs can be prone to having food or liquid fall into their lungs which generally triggers infection. This type of infection is called aspiration pneumonia, this type of infection is extremely common in children diagnosed with Tay-Sachs and can easily be treated with antibiotics. The excess secretion of saliva is also an issue when it comes to treating children with Tay-Sachs, because it can cause difficulty breathing. This complication is typically treated with hyoscine skin patches, which was originally created to deal with motion sickness, but are useful do to their side effects which include drying of the mouth. As the child ages it is highly likely they will experience numerous lung infections that will cause major damage to the lungs eventually causing the child to experience respiratory arrest. Respiratory arrest can be treated, unfortunately treating it has an extremely low success rate. This is usually the point when the …show more content…
Mental health is considered to be the most difficult challenge when dealing with late onset Tay-Sachs. Emotional health and psychiatric health are the two categories of mental health that are generally affected. Feelings of isolation, depression, and frustration may occur when an adult is diagnosed. Generally, this is caused by the restrictions this disease imposes. People with Tay-Sachs still wish to live a normal life and perform activities that fit their basic cognitive and emotional needs. Approximately 30-40 percent of all patients that suffer from late onset Tay-Sachs experience mental health symptoms such as: hallucinations, paranoia, anxiety, severe depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and disorientation. Medication such as haloperidol, thorazine, and tricyclic antidepressants can be administered to patients to help manage depression and anxiety. There have also been several cases of pregnant women with late onset Tay-Sachs experiencing what is called psychotic episode. A psychotic episode is when one 's mind seems to leave reality in a sense, and this generally includes encounters of delusions and hallucinations. Although these types of incidents can be traumatizing, it will not cause harm to the mother or child as long they are closely monitored by medical
The main goal is to manage the disease by offering medication and emotional support, to allow the child better quality of life. Seizure medication can be administered in an attempt to control the quantity and the severity of the seizures the child may endure. Respiratory therapy is another management technique that can be conducted for the child, provided this treatment becomes necessary. Children with Tay-Sachs can be prone to having food or liquid fall into their lungs which generally triggers infection. This type of infection is called aspiration pneumonia, this type of infection is extremely common in children diagnosed with Tay-Sachs and can easily be treated with antibiotics. The excess secretion of saliva is also an issue when it comes to treating children with Tay-Sachs, because it can cause difficulty breathing. This complication is typically treated with hyoscine skin patches, which was originally created to deal with motion sickness, but are useful do to their side effects which include drying of the mouth. As the child ages it is highly likely they will experience numerous lung infections that will cause major damage to the lungs eventually causing the child to experience respiratory arrest. Respiratory arrest can be treated, unfortunately treating it has an extremely low success rate. This is usually the point when the …show more content…
Mental health is considered to be the most difficult challenge when dealing with late onset Tay-Sachs. Emotional health and psychiatric health are the two categories of mental health that are generally affected. Feelings of isolation, depression, and frustration may occur when an adult is diagnosed. Generally, this is caused by the restrictions this disease imposes. People with Tay-Sachs still wish to live a normal life and perform activities that fit their basic cognitive and emotional needs. Approximately 30-40 percent of all patients that suffer from late onset Tay-Sachs experience mental health symptoms such as: hallucinations, paranoia, anxiety, severe depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and disorientation. Medication such as haloperidol, thorazine, and tricyclic antidepressants can be administered to patients to help manage depression and anxiety. There have also been several cases of pregnant women with late onset Tay-Sachs experiencing what is called psychotic episode. A psychotic episode is when one 's mind seems to leave reality in a sense, and this generally includes encounters of delusions and hallucinations. Although these types of incidents can be traumatizing, it will not cause harm to the mother or child as long they are closely monitored by medical