Down syndrome is a birth defect caused by a genetic disorder that affects 350,000 people in the United States. It is caused by abnormalities in the genes and is not inherited, meaning that parents do not pass this onto their children. Genetics is the study of heredity or how certain traits are passed from parents to their children. Genes are the basic unit of heredity. Cells are the building blocks of your body and each one of us has more than 100 trillion cells. Our genes are located in chromosomes. Each cell in your body contains 46 chromosomes or 23 pairs. In a person with Down syndrome, there are 47 chromosomes. In 1956, a French researcher named Jerome Lejeune used a new powerful microscope to view human strands of DNA. DNA is what …show more content…
About 50% afflicted with Down syndrome will suffer from hearing loss. Many of these problems can be serious or even life threatening but fortunately, most of them can be treated if they are detected early. Due to the nature of the disease and the many health issues involved, the life expectancy for a person with Down syndrome is only 50-65 years.
Babies are born with poor muscle tone causing weak muscles and making it harder for them to develop motor skills such as using their arms and legs. It is harder for them to grasp objects, crawl, and walk. Children with Down syndrome have difficulty with their cognitive (thinking) abilities, problem solving, memory retention, social, language, and motor skills. This is one reason why people with Down syndrome become frustrated very easily.
Although people with disabilities are becoming more acceptable in society, we still have a long way to go. Congress has passed many laws to help the disabled such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, and the most well known, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991. People with Down syndrome just want to be like every one else. Many of these people live “normal” lives. They go to school and learn, they are taught skills and learn to be independent, they work and even get married.
There is genetic research and studies in biochemistry to find a way to
As a child, Down syndrome was a part of my everyday life. I was watched after every day for the first ten years of my life by a women who was also looking after her sister who had Down syndrome. To me it was nothing unusual. It wasn’t until about eighth grade that I realized that to other people it wasn’t normal, it had a negative connotation. Growing up around a person who has Down syndrome made me see things differently than others. Once I realized not everyone else’s perspectives were the same as mine I became really aware of how others treated and reacted to people with Down syndrome. Its years later and I came across a story told by a women named Bethany Van Delft about Down syndrome.
Individuals with Down syndrome are becoming increasingly integrated into society and community organizations, such as school, health care systems, work forces, and social and recreational activities. Individuals with Down syndrome possess varying degrees of cognitive delays, from very mild to severe. Most people with Down syndrome have cognitive delays that are mild to moderate.
A person with downs syndrome has extra chromosome. The defect usually involves the twenty first chromosome. With this chromosome defect you do not develop like the average human being. With Down syndrome you have a short body stature and your face has a very broad profile, the most noticeable way to tell if someone has Down syndrome is their ears and their eyes are aligned differently than someone who doesn’t have downs syndrome. When you are growing up with Down’s syndrome your speech develops much slower and it is much harder to annunciate your words. some over time can develop great speech and some
The aetiology of Downs syndrome which means the cause of a specific disease (Mcferran, 2014). Suggests that when one of the chromosomes in reproduction do not separate properly this is when Down’s Syndrome is caused (Steven, 2005). This extra chromosome causes physical developmental defects this causes reduced muscle tone, a small mouth with a projecting tongue and eyes that slant downwards and upwards and causing the back of their head to be flat. Many babies born with Down's Syndrome are diagnosed with the condition after birth and are likely to have many physical defects for example they may have reduced muscle tone, eyes that slant upwards and outwards, a small mouth with a protruding tongue and a flat back of the head. (Hartley, 2015). Down Syndrome patients can also be afflicted with other conditions, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and leukemia (WHO, 2010). This could effect children and adults through out their life also effecting their physical and mental health.
However, the first scientist to assume that Down syndrome was actually a genetic disorder was Jerome Lejeune in 1959. Through karyotype analysis he observed that the disorder was the result of an extra chromosome, which he labeled as the 21st chromosome, and
Down’s Syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21, happens when a problem occurs in the body’s chromosomes. Chromosomes are the structure that holds genes which give the body instruction on how to work and grow. Each person has 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell in their body and each pair consists of one chromosome from the father and one from the mother. Babies born with Down’s Syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21 which changes the way the brain and body develop. It is not certain how Down’s Syndrome happens. It could occur during fertilization or in a rare situation can be passed down from parent to child.
There are many people with permanent disability’s that contribute to our society in very useful ways. In most cases, these people are viewed as being courageous. This kind of a reaction is typical but not always honest. There are a lot of people are uncomfortable around those that are considered “less than normal”. In her article The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have, Patricia Bauer writes about Down’s syndrome and abortion. Bauer is a former reporter and bureau chief for the Washington Post.
7. Children with Down syndrome usually weigh less than average at birth. They are normally shorter than other children and tend to be overweight.
A person that has Down syndrome may have some physical problems or disabilities. Some common physical problems are: short necks, poor muscle tone, a small head and an overall smaller body. Approximately one third of babies born with Down syndrome have heart defects, most of which are now
Down syndrome (also known as trisomy 21) is a disorder that makes you physically and mentally more challenged than everyone else but you are still able to grow develop and live a partially normal life. The major causes of Down syndrome are first just getting unlucky and having the 21st chromosome be irregular. But if you have a child when you are older than 35 you have a highly increased chance of getting down syndrome also if you have a sibling with Down syndrome or another kid with-it that can also increase the chance of getting down syndrome. Some symptoms of this disorder are, you can be physically less capable than others can and can have a hard time remembering things and can possibly not be able to achieve what seems to be easy things to do daily. However, most important, they only live to about 80. In addition, they can have a hard time reproducing but can still can reproduce.
People with Down syndrome often have at least one intellectual disability. Often they have problems with talking but there are many people who have regular visits with speech pathologists that have worked they way up to being able to talk clearly. People with Down syndrome are often unhappy to the way some people treat them, as
Down Syndrome is a condition where people are born with an extra chromosome. It is a mental and physical trait that is usually caused by a gene issue. It is common in one out of 800 births and can affect all races and genders (My Child Without Limits.org). This disease is life long and there is no cure for it. The only way to help is by loving and supporting the person who is affected. Generally, a person is born with 46 chromosomes but people affected with this disease have 47 chromosomes. People with more than the standard number of chromosomes tend to have brain development issues. There are more than 400,000 people living in the United States with this disease. Life span for Down syndrome patients have increased over the years. Back in the day, people with this were not expected to live past childhood years. Now, Down syndrome patients can live to sixty and numerous live way beyond that age.
Jane O'Brien: We can’t tell the exact age your child going to live, some people with Down Syndrome live up to age 50s, 60s and even 70s. As medical remains, the life span of many individuals will be even longer. It is true that people with Down Syndrome on average don't live long as other normal people. However, we are working on, to give better treatment to cure Down syndrome.
. Down syndrome is not a disease that someone catches and is not caused by difficulties during the pregnancy, it is a genetic condition. This condition is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome in the body’s cells and causes a redundant amount of proteins to be formed. All cells of the body derive from a single cell formed by the fusion of a father’s sperm and a mother’s egg. Each cell carries a nucleus full of genetic material known as genes. These genes are inherited from both the mother and father. Each cell normally contains 46 pairs of chromosomes. 23 chromosomes come from one parent and 23 from the other, hence the 46 pairs. When it comes to children with down syndrome, one of the chromosomes does not separate properly and so the
Many people think that a person who has Down syndrome doesn’t live a normal life. Although they do have to work harder at some things, they can do most things that everyone else can do. Some have more issues than others. People with Down syndrome face obstacles such as physical and behavioral abnormalities, health issues, working, and social development skills, but there are different ways we can help.