Home > Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders > Niemann-Pick Disease

Definition

Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) is a term that defines a group of diseases that affect metabolism and which are caused by specific genetic mutations. Currently, there are three categories of Niemann-Pick diseases: type A (NPD A), the acute infantile form; type B (NPD-B), a less common, chronic, non-neurological form; and type C (NPD-C), a biochemically and genetically distinct form of the disease.

Description

NPD-A is a debilitating neurodegenerative (progressive nervous system dysfunction) childhood disorder characterized by failure to thrive, enlarged liver, and progressive neurological deterioration, which generally leads to death by three years of age. In contrast, NPD-B patients have an enlarged liver, no neurological involvement, and often survive into adulthood. NPD-C, although similar in name to types A and B, is very different at the biochemical and genetic level. People with NPD-C are not able to...