Transcript What is Down Syndrome?

Mercer University
W. Isom
EGR-108
What is Down Syndrome?
Facts most people do not know
about Down Syndrome
↔ Trisomy
21 is another name for
down syndrome.
↔ Down syndrome patients are at
risk of being born with or
obtaining acute leukemia.
↔ Down syndrome is named after
John Langdon Down.
↔ Not all down syndrome patients
have mental retardation.
Characteristics
↔a flat nasal bridge
↔a protruding tongue
↔a short neck
↔excessive space between
large toe and second toe
↔Most people with Down
syndrome have mental
retardation.
↔People with Down syndrome
can have serious
abnormalities affecting any
body system.
↔They also may have a broad
head and a very round face.
Can Down syndrome be
cured or prevented?
Right now there is no cure for Down syndrome.
Scientist are not certain how to prevent the
chromosomal error that causes Down Syndrome.
Parents can not do anything to cause or prevent
the birth of their baby with Down syndrome.
However, some women who have had a baby
with Down syndrome had an abnormality in
how their bodies process vitamin B. Some claim
that high doses of vitamins given to children
with Down syndrome will improve the mental
performance and lessen the mental retardation.
This theory has not yet been proven.
What research is being
conducted on Down
syndrome?
The March of Dimes is investigating
why errors in chromosome division
occur, in the hope of someday
preventing Down syndrome and other
birth defects caused by abnormalities
in the number or structure of
chromosomes. Other researchers are
seeking to improve the outlook for
children with Down syndrome. One
example of this includes developing
improved language intervention
programs to help these children
communicate more easily.
Research continued
Gene therapy shows the
greatest promise for curing
down syndrome. Gene
therapy is the replacement of
mutated genes with normal
genes in the hope to cure the
disease or defective caused
by the mutated genes. Gene
therapy technology is not
quite adequate enough to
guaranty success however it
has had success in Antisense
therapy.
Life Expectancy
One study, carried out in the United states
in 2002, said that the lifespan is 49 years,
with considerable variations between
different ethnic and socio-economic
groups. However, in recent decades, the life
expectancy among persons with Down
Syndrome has increased significantly up
from 25 years in 1980. Yet there are rare
occasions when down syndrome patients
live 10 years longer.
References
↔
Gene therapy. (1991, October 18). CQ Researcher, 1, 777-800.
Retrieved March 19, 2008, from CQ Researcher Online,
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1991101800.
↔ Kliewer, C (1998). Schooling children with Down syndrome :
toward an understanding of possibility. New York , New York :
Teachers College Press.
↔ Strydom, André (2003).Down's syndrome. Lancet. 362, 80-81.
↔ Hernandez D and Fisher EMC. Down syndrome genetics:
unraveling a multifactorial disorder. Hum. mol. Genet., 5: 14111416, 2005
↔ Down Syndrome Treatment. (March 19, 2008). e Medicine Health
↔ http://video.about.com/pediatrics/Down-Syndrome.htm
↔ http://www.nbdpn.org/current/2007pdf/DS_Eng.pdf
↔ http://www.neatorama.com/category/mentalfloss/page/2/