Gaucher Disease Symptoms
- Gaucher disease can affect the strength and structure of your bones. You may notice a feeling of pain that seems to come from your bones, and your bones may begin to lose their mass and start to become thinner. Your bones may also begin to become brittle and frail which means that you are more susceptible to a bone fracture.
- The creation of healthy red blood cells may be affected by Gaucher disease, and this is a condition known as anemia. When anemia strikes, your body is unable to produce the healthy oxygen-carrying red blood cells it needs to keep the organs healthy. You may begin to notice a constant feeling of fatigue due to a lack of oxygen in your blood. You may also start to suffer from a drop in the production of blood platelets which is what the blood uses to clot. A common symptom of a decrease in blood platelet production is bruising very easily, and having bruises remain for extended periods of time.
- A case of Gaucher disease may start to show itself in the form of damage to some of your internal organs. Your heart muscles may become weaker which would cause fatigue or dizziness. Your spleen or your liver may become enlarged which may cause a general achy feeling all over your body, and you may develop areas of tenderness in the middle back. Damage to the liver could start to cause minor symptoms of jaundice which may show up as small yellow spots in the whites of your eyes.
- Younger children suffering from Gaucher disease may start to show developmental problems as they grow. They may begin to show signs of slowed mental development which could begin to manifest itself in the form of mental retardation. There is also a possibility that the child may take longer than normal to reach puberty.
- At some point in the development of Gaucher disease you may begin to experience muscle-related symptoms. You might begin to have seizures, or your body may go completely rigid for no reason. Over time you may start to lose muscle coordination that would make it difficult to walk, and you may not be able to use your arms properly.
