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Gaucher's disease

Gaucher's disease

1 8.0
A rare inherited illness in which fat builds up in organs because a needed enzyme is missing
  • noun
  • /ɡoʊˈʃeɪrz dɪˈziːz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : enfermedad de Gaucher
  • Gaucher's disease is the most common lysosomal storage disorder.
  • therapy for Gaucher's disease
  • patients with Gaucher's disease

Examples

  • Doctors typically diagnose Gaucher's disease through blood tests that measure the enzyme levels in the body.

  • We studied three men and five women with type 1 Gaucher's disease, aged 25-51 years, of whom five had had splenectomy 3 to 30 years previously.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The rate of enzyme turnover suggests a rational basis for the use of this therapy in the treatment of Gaucher's disease.

    Academic text (1996)
  • This expectation has now been realized by Barton and colleagues, who successfully developed enzyme therapy for Gaucher's disease.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Features of Gaucher's disease include hepatosplenomegaly, bone marrow replacement, skeletal disease, lung infiltration, hypermetabolic state, and rarely, neurological lesions.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Many people with Gaucher's disease experience symptoms such as fatigue and bone pain due to fat accumulation in their organs.

  • Treatment for Gaucher's disease often involves enzyme replacement therapy to help alleviate symptoms caused by enzyme deficiency.

Synonyms

genetic disease
vsGaucher's disease
  • Specialized
12 3.5

A health problem caused by a change in a person's genes that can be passed from parents

is a specific inherited enzyme shortage producing fat buildup rather than general genetic causes
genetic disorder
vsGaucher's disease
  • Specialized
9 4.2

A health problem caused by changes in a person's genes that parents pass on

is a specific inherited enzyme deficiency causing fat accumulation rather than any genetic condition
genetic abnormality
vsGaucher's disease
  • Specialized
3 4.6

A change in a person's genes that causes a disease

is a specific enzyme deficiency causing fat storage in organs not just genetic change
inherited disease
vsGaucher's disease
  • Specialized
2 3.0

A disease passed from parents to their children through genes

is limited to a specific inherited enzyme deficiency that causes fat buildup in organs
lipidosis
vsGaucher's disease
  • Specialized
9.9

A condition where too much fat builds up in the body's tissues

focuses on an inherited shortage of a specific enzyme rather than general metabolic problems

Surface Forms

Morphology

Gaucher's + disease

The word 'disease' makes it clear to a B1 learner that this is an illness and the possessive proper name 'Gaucher's' signals it is an eponymous medical condition, so learners would grasp it denotes some named disease. However, the specific pathology (a rare inherited enzyme deficiency causing lipid accumulation) cannot be derived from the constituents, so the meaning is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Gaucher's disease is named after the doctor Philippe Gaucher, who first described the illness after finding a patient with a very large spleen. The name joins Gaucher and disease, so it now means the rare disorder passed down in families where fatty substances build up because a key enzyme is missing.