subject: Zellweger Syndromes: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment. [print this page] Zellweger syndromes are the group of 4 diseases which are related to each other and are usually referred as the Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorders (PBD). These diseases are part of larger set of diseases that is known as leukodystrophies and are hereditary conditions that harm the white substance of the brain. Zellweger syndromes are the most brutal of all the Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorders. This pathology is usually caused by the defects in the person's genes which are active during the growth of the person's brain as well as in the development of the 'myelin,' a whitish matter that is present in the individual's cerebral cortex. The body needs at least 12 genes to properly assemble the peroxisome in the cortex. Defects in any of these genes is producing the disease.
The Causes
Mutations that happen in genes are the reason of that syndrome; these leads to a dysfunctional protein which is very important for an individual's cells to import newly synthesized proteins. This is distinguished either by a decrease, or entire absence of the peroxisome. There're key enzymes that are vital for various chemical reactions, predominantly oxidation, which are contained in peroxisome.
Symptoms
There are a lot of clinical, observable features related with the disease. The symptoms may include facial malformation and also eye defects. Features which are typical of the syndrome include high forehead, up-slanting eyes and skin folds or an epicanthal. Babies with the syndrome usually experience a drop in the muscle tone and rigorous weakness. Symptoms could also be like seizures, elevated iron, elevated copper, lack of muscle tone, intellectual disability, gastrointestinal bleeding, jaundice, enlarged liver, inability to move, vision disturbances, difficulty swallowing, prenatal growth failure and so on.
Treatments
Nowadays the medical science is still unable to discover a permanent cure for the Zellweger syndrome and there's no standard track of treatments. The syndrome and the metabolic abnormalities related with the disease is caused at some stage in fetal developments. A treatment to fix them once an individual is born is very limited; the common treatments option are symptomatic and supportive. Prognosis for the infants with the disease will be very poor as nearly all infants fail to continue to exist their very first 6 months of new life; they generally die from some respiratory distress, liver failure or gastrointestinal bleeding. Let's hope the future is finding a cure for that terrible disease who is is affecting more than 10,000 americans.
