Monday, September 13, 2010

Down Syndrome - Hints And Manifestations

By Tony Cowell

The condition known as Down syndrome occurs because of an error in the cell division process, resulting in abnormality in the genetic material. Every cell of the human body consists of 46 chromosomes, from which 23 are given by the father and the other 23 by the mother. However, in this case an extra 21st chromosome results.

This leads to a number of cognitive abnormalities and physical disabilities in the child that is born. These can also be identified earlier, before the birth of the baby through tests and screenings.

The factor that has the highest likelihood of leading to Down syndrome is that of maternal age. There are basically three types of Down syndrome:

Firstly, trisomy 21 is known to be the most common category of Down syndrome. 95% of the people who are suffering from this illness fall under this type. Here, every individual has one extra chromosome, adding them up to be 47 instead of the usual 46 chromosomes.

This condition occurs prior or during the occurrence of conception, due to cell division not taking place correctly. It leads to more than one copy of the chromosome number 21.

The second kind of Down syndrome is called mosaicism, occurring in approximately 1-2% of people with this problem. As this arises after fertilization has happened, it leads to a few cells with 46 chromosomes, while some having 47. The factor that leads to mosaicism taking place is a mistake in the partition of the 21st chromosome.

The third type is called translocation which occurs in around 4% of children who are born with Down syndrome. In this case, a piece of the 21st chromosome breaks off and joins with some other chromosome, most often the 14th one. It is likely that one parent of such a child has his or her chromosome not arranged properly.

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