Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS)

Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) is a rare genetic disorder which affects many parts of the body. One of the principal symptoms is progressive vision loss due to the deterioration of the retina which is responsible for sensing light. Night vision problems usually manifest in childhood which worsen into blind spots and eventually tunnel vision. Affected individuals often become legally blind by adolescence to early adulthood. Other characteristics of BBS are abnormal weight gain which progresses to obesity, having extra fingers or toes, delayed motor development, inability to smell, auditory deficiencies, learning disabilities, hypogonadism (diminished activity of the ovaries or testes), and impaired speech. This term is attributed to Georges Bardet, a French physician who first described the syndrome in 1920, and Arthur Biedl, a Hungarian pathologist who also independently described the disease in 1922.