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Article: Once considered a disease of infants, Tay-Sachs is identified in adults.(Health & Fitness)
- Article from:
- Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
- Article date:
- January 17, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Paddock Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As a child and in her teens, Susan Fishbein was diagnosed by doctors as a "klutz" - not a very scientific term, but one that applied to her symptoms.
"I was always falling down and had a strange gait, and I frequently dropped things," said the Pennsylvania woman, now 49.
But it wasn't until she suffered a bout of pneumonia in 1983 that her symptoms became worse. She began to have balance problems, involuntary muscle contractions, irregular movements and slurred speech. The flippant first diagnosis finally gave way to one that helped all the pieces of a mysterious puzzle fall into place.
A simple blood test confirmed that she was among only about ...