Question: What is (are) fucosidosis ?
Answer: Fucosidosis is a condition that affects many areas of the body, especially the brain. Affected individuals have intellectual disability that worsens with age, and many develop dementia later in life. People with this condition often have delayed development of motor skills such as walking; the skills they do acquire deteriorate over time. Additional signs and symptoms of fucosidosis include impaired growth; abnormal bone development (dysostosis multiplex); seizures; abnormal muscle stiffness (spasticity); clusters of enlarged blood vessels forming small, dark red spots on the skin (angiokeratomas); distinctive facial features that are often described as "coarse"; recurrent respiratory infections; and abnormally large abdominal organs (visceromegaly). In severe cases, symptoms typically appear in infancy, and affected individuals usually live into late childhood. In milder cases, symptoms begin at age 1 or 2, and affected individuals tend to survive into mid-adulthood. In the past, researchers described two types of this condition based on symptoms and age of onset, but current opinion is that the two types are actually a single disorder with signs and symptoms that range in severity.
Source: GHR

Question: How many people are affected by fucosidosis ?
Answer: Fucosidosis is a rare condition; approximately 100 cases have been reported worldwide. This condition appears to be most prevalent in Italy, Cuba, and the southwestern United States.
Source: GHR

Question: Is fucosidosis inherited ?
Answer: This condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations. The parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive condition each carry one copy of the mutated gene, but they typically do not show signs and symptoms of the condition.
Source: GHR

Question: What are the treatments for fucosidosis ?
Answer: These resources address the diagnosis or management of fucosidosis: - Genetic Testing Registry: Fucosidosis These resources from MedlinePlus offer information about the diagnosis and management of various health conditions: - Diagnostic Tests - Drug Therapy - Surgery and Rehabilitation - Genetic Counseling - Palliative Care
Source: GHR