As my biology class is now going over meiosis – a type of cell division – and talking about the inheritance of chromosomes, the down syndrome was mentioned and the class broke into a discussion about it. This stimulated some interest in me so I did some research to know more about this disease.
What is it?
The down syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a disease caused by a disorder in chromosomes – an extra copy of parts or the whole chromosome 21. It is commonly associated with some features, including both physical appearances as well as intellectual abilities; patients of the down syndrome typically have short statures and some recognizable facial features (e.g. a protruding tongue); other symptoms include impairments in cognition and higher risks of other diseases.
How Common is it?
The down syndrome is not a rare disease. Suggest by researches, the approximate possibility of having this disease is one out of 700 pregnancies. The disease is not inherited as it occurs out of randomness in early stages of cell division, but according to statistics, although many factors can affect it, the most obvious factor is mothers going through deliveries at over 35 of age.
Detecting the Disease
Nowadays, there are ways to detect whether a baby has the down syndrome as early as when they are still in their mothers’ wombs. Screening tests are able to tell the chances that a baby has the down syndrome, but it cannot tell the mother for sure. However, if ones screening tests does happen to show high possibilities of carrying a baby with the disease, the parents may choose to run diagnostic tests, which are able to provide more specific information through more complicated and risky procedures.
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