What is Hurler's Syndrome?
Hurler's Syndrome is a life threatening enzyme disorder. It is a rare disease that affects 1 out of 100,000 births and if not treated, a child with Hurler's can become blind, mentally retarded, stop walking and talking. This disease can also affect the lungs, heart, liver, kidney and brain.
Characteristics of a child with Hurler's include: a progressive curvature of the lower spine, significant shortening of stature, a short neck, stubby and claw-like hands, enlarged head, coarseness of the facial features with flattening of the bridge of the nose, wide nostrils, thick lips and a large protruding tongue. Children with the disorder also have thick hair and excessive body hair.
Hurler's children usually have different levels of developmental delays and their life expectancy is approximately 3 – 10 years of age.