Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome was discovered in 1959 by Jerome Lejuene. This gentleman discovered that Down Syndrome results from having an extra chromosome. Symptoms of Down Syndrome include certain heart malformations, short stature, weak muscles. They will have short, wide necks with excess fat and skin, short arms and legs. It can induce eye conditions and celiac disease. Down Syndrome occurs when there is a second, or even third copy of the twenty first chromosome. Treatments for this disease include vocational training. Vocational training can better the development of children with Down Syndrome. It is imperative that the child with Down Syndrome has regular medical checkups. The average lifespan of an individual with Down Syndrome is 49 years. Down Syndrome occurs one in every 733 live births. This would mean there would be about 5,429 cases per year. Currently, there are 400,000 people living with Down Syndrome in the United States. Down Syndrome can occur in people of all races and economic levels. However, Down Syndrome occurs more in births of children who have mothers under thirty-five years age. As mentioned before, at a "molecular" level Down Syndrome occurs when an individual has two or three copies of the twenty-first chromosome. Personally reflecting on the information on this condition, I feel that Down Syndrome is terrible. Especially since it can affect the victim, only by having an extra copy of a chromosome. I would love to find out more information on this genetic disorder. I hope that more can be found out on Down Syndrome in the subsequent years.