Danielle Sorenson

What is Down Syndrome?

A congenital disorder arising from a chromosome defect, causing
intellectual impairment and physical abnormalities including short
stature and a broad facial profile. It arises from a defect involving
chromosome 21, usually an extra copy.
Description: The most common form of Down syndrome is known as
trisomy 21, a condition where individuals have 47 chromosomes in
each cell instead of 46. Trisomy 21 is caused by an error in cell
division called nondisjunction, which leaves a sperm or egg cell with
an extra copy of chromosome 21 before or at conception.
Sources: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145554.php
Symptoms, Facts, & stereotypes
Physical Symptoms: Mental Symptoms:
Eye shape like almonds Down Syndrome affects a persons
Flatter faces ability to think, reason,
Small Ears understand, and be social. These
affects range from mild to
Tongue that sticks out of the moderate. Children with Downs
mouth Syndrome often take longer to
White spots in the colored part of reach important goals like
the eye crawling, walking, and talking. It
Small hands and feet may also take more time for these
kids to be able to get dressed and
Low muscle tone use the bathroom on there own.
Small head In school they may need help with
Short neck things like learning to read and
Short height write.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/children
/understanding-down-syndrome-
symptoms#1
Support/Treatment options
Unfortunately Down Syndrome cannot be cured. But there are many
treatments that can help people with Down Syndrome to live productive
lives into adulthood.
Children with Downs Syndrome can benefit from many therapy options
to help improve their motor skills. For example, speech therapy,
occupational therapy, and exercises are a few things that can help a child
with Down Syndrome motor skills.
The medical problems a person can face with Downs Syndrome are
cataracts, hearing problems, thyroid problems, and seizure disorders.
These things can be treated or corrected though.
It has been suggested that children with Down Syndrome might benefit
from medical treatment that includes amino acid supplements and a
drug known as Piracetam. Piracetam is a drug that some people believe
may improve the ability of the brain to learn and understand. However,
there have been no controlled clinical studies with Piracetam to date in
the U.S. or elsewhere that show its safety and efficacy.
Sources: http://www.mychildwithoutlimits.org/understand/down-syndrome/down-syndrome-treatment/
Possible Causes
Down syndrome is caused by an extra copy of genetic material on all or part of the 21st chromosome.
Every cell in the body contains genes that are grouped along chromosomes in the cell's nucleus. There
are normally 46 chromosomes in each cell, 23 inherited from the mother and 23 from the father. When
some or all of a person's cells have an extra full, or partial, copy of chromosome 21, the result is Down
syndrome. The most common form of Down syndrome is known as trisomy 21, a condition where
individuals have 47 chromosomes in each cell instead of 46. Trisomy 21 is caused by an error in cell
division called nondisjunction, which leaves a sperm or egg cell with an extra copy of chromosome 21
before or at conception. This variant accounts for 95 percent of Down syndrome cases.
The remaining 5 percent of Down syndrome cases are due to conditions called mosaicism and
translocation. Mosaic Down syndrome results when some cells in the body are normal while others have
Trisomy 21. Robertsonian translocation occurs when part of chromosome 21 breaks off during cell
division and attaches to another chromosome (usually chromosome 14). The presence of this extra part
of chromosome 21 causes some Down syndrome characteristics.
Also, woman over the age of 35 are more likely to give birth to a child with downs syndrome. 1 in 1,000
babies are born with down syndrome in women less than 30 compared to about 12 in 1,000 for women
over 40.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145554.php
My Special Video
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