Tay-Sachs disease

Definitions of Tay-Sachs disease

1. noun

   a hereditary disorder of lipid metabolism occurring most frequently in individuals of Jewish descent in eastern Europe; accumulation of lipids in nervous tissue results in death in early childhood
   synonyms: Sachs disease, Tay-Sachs, infantile amaurotic idiocy

   type of:

   monogenic disease, monogenic disorder

   an inherited disease controlled by a single pair of genes

   autosomal recessive defect, autosomal recessive disease

   a disease caused by the presence of two recessive mutant genes on an autosome

   lipidosis

   a disorder of lipid metabolism; abnormal levels of certain fats accumulate in the body