Tay-Sachs disease

[tey-saks]

noun Pathology.

a rare fatal hereditary disease, occurring chiefly in infants and children, especially of eastern European Jewish origin, characterized by a red spot on the retina, gradual blindness, and paralysis.

Origin of Tay-Sachs disease

1920–25; named after W. Tay (1843–1927), English physician, and B. Sachs (1858–1944), American neurologist

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British Dictionary definitions for tay-sachs disease

Tay-Sachs disease

noun

an inherited disorder, caused by a faulty recessive gene, in which lipids accumulate in the brain, leading to mental retardation and blindness. It occurs mostly in Ashkenazi Jews

Word Origin for Tay-Sachs disease

C20: named after W. Tay (1843–1927), British physician, and B. Sachs (1858–1944), US neurologist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

tay-sachs disease in Medicine

Tay-Sachs disease

[tā′săks′]

n.

A liposomal storage disease that is the infantile type of cerebral sphingolipidosis.GM2 gangliosidosis

tay-sachs disease in Science

Tay-Sachs disease

[tā′săks′]

A genetic disease in which the products of fat metabolism accumulate in the nervous system, causing retardation, paralysis, and death by preschool age. Individuals of eastern European Jewish descent have a higher risk of inheriting Tay-Sachs disease. The disease is named after its describers, British ophthalmologist Warren Tay (1843-1927) and American neurologist Bernard Sachs (1858-1944).