Get To Know About Down Syndrome

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Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome is a common genetic disorder which is caused by an extra chromosome 21. Basically, this syndrome can be described along with the mentally retardation feature for the patient. However, the level of severity of mental retardation is different for each patient.

Let us talk about the history of Down syndrome first. In year 1866, it was firstly described by J. Langdon Down and was named as Mongolism due to the resemblance to Mongolian. Yet, this name has been banned and change to Down syndrome after this. As it is because of an extra chromosome 21, it is called Trisomy 21 too.

The occurrence of Down syndrome is 1 in every 1000 births to 20 year-old mothers, 25 in every 1000 births to 35 year-old mothers and 88 in every 1000 births to 49 year-old mothers. This syndrome is due to the non-disjunction occurred during the cell division. Obviously, the age of mothers is closely related to the syndrome. We can bravely assume that the higher age of mother, the higher probability of non-disjunction will be occurred during the cell division, and therefore causes the Down Syndrome on the baby.

Yet, the age of father is associated with the Down syndrome too. Father with age 50 above will increase drastically on the risk of getting Down syndrome child.

There are some common characteristics of Down syndrome patients. They are usually happy and playful. They can still do some easy things like the young child even though they are mentally retarded. They can be trained well if we start to train them since they are young. Some of them even can do some jobs to make their own living.

The physical appearance of Down syndrome patients can vary from one to another. Most of them have almond-shaped eyes that slant upward, broad facial profile, short neck, furrowed tongue, broad forehead and so on. They have short legs and arms. Sometimes, they may also suffer some health disorders like congenital heart defects, respiratory problems, leukemia and others. Obesity can be one of the severe problems for them too.
For me, the Down syndrome patients are just like the normal children. They need love and care from others. I strongly believe that they always live in their own happy world that is much simpler than our world. Try to communicate with them. We might learn something from them too.

There are many hypotheses that explain the causes of Down Syndrome. If you want to know more, you may read the Hypotheses Causing Down Syndrome and Cytogenetics Cancer Research.


About the Author:
There are many hypotheses that explain the causes of Down Syndrome. If you want to know more, you may read the Hypotheses Causing Down Syndrome and Cytogenetics Cancer Research.



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