Down Syndrome Analysis
Final Paper
Down Syndrome
Introduction
As women grow older, their chances of becoming pregnant become slim. However if a woman over the age of forty happens to finally get pregnant, the chances of the baby having birth imperfections tend to increase. Although some disorders occur through unhealthy lifestyles that the mother involves herself in, Down Syndrome is usually not identified as such. The age of the mother is not the only thing that may cause Down Syndrome to occur. The reasoning for this is because it’s a rather “sporadic” disorder and “the majority of children with Down 's syndrome are born to younger mothers” (Down’s syndrome 1). The high number of younger women having children with Down Syndrome may be because they become pregnant more frequent to begin with. The only known cause of Down Syndrome is the genetic mutation of having an extra copy of chromosome 21, however there is still much more that needs to be done to figure out why this mutation happens.
History Since the 1800’s there have been cases of people with symptoms relating to that of Down Syndrome except then the people were merely called “mongoloids” named after the people of Mongolia (Jilg 1). However, the first known case of Down Syndrome is not exactly known. Eventually in 1959, a French physician named Jermone Lejeune discovered the obvious difference between those diagnosed with Down Syndrome and the normal biological make-up. He found that Down Syndrome patients had, “47 chromosomes, whereas the cells of people without the syndrome only had 46 chromosomes” (Jilg 1). This later became labeled as the medical term Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome 1).
Genetic Basis There is more than one way a person can be affected through mutations on chromosome 21. Through the process of Trisomy 21, all cells in the body will have three copies of chromosome 21. Trisomy 21 occurs in a developing fetus,
Down Syndrome
Introduction
As women grow older, their chances of becoming pregnant become slim. However if a woman over the age of forty happens to finally get pregnant, the chances of the baby having birth imperfections tend to increase. Although some disorders occur through unhealthy lifestyles that the mother involves herself in, Down Syndrome is usually not identified as such. The age of the mother is not the only thing that may cause Down Syndrome to occur. The reasoning for this is because it’s a rather “sporadic” disorder and “the majority of children with Down 's syndrome are born to younger mothers” (Down’s syndrome 1). The high number of younger women having children with Down Syndrome may be because they become pregnant more frequent to begin with. The only known cause of Down Syndrome is the genetic mutation of having an extra copy of chromosome 21, however there is still much more that needs to be done to figure out why this mutation happens.
History Since the 1800’s there have been cases of people with symptoms relating to that of Down Syndrome except then the people were merely called “mongoloids” named after the people of Mongolia (Jilg 1). However, the first known case of Down Syndrome is not exactly known. Eventually in 1959, a French physician named Jermone Lejeune discovered the obvious difference between those diagnosed with Down Syndrome and the normal biological make-up. He found that Down Syndrome patients had, “47 chromosomes, whereas the cells of people without the syndrome only had 46 chromosomes” (Jilg 1). This later became labeled as the medical term Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome 1).
Genetic Basis There is more than one way a person can be affected through mutations on chromosome 21. Through the process of Trisomy 21, all cells in the body will have three copies of chromosome 21. Trisomy 21 occurs in a developing fetus,
Cited: "Facts About Down Syndrome." National Down Syndrome Congress. National Down Syndrome Congress, 2010