Down Syndrome

What is Down syndrome?
Down syndrome is caused by a gene problem that happened before birth. The kids born with this syndrome have some degree of mental retardation which varies from person to person. It is a lifelong condition but with the right care they can grow and have normal, healthy live.


What causes Down syndrome?
Problem with baby’s chromosomes caused Down syndrome. Chromosomes contain your DNA. Normally we have 46 but a person with Down syndrome have with one more. This is what changes the brain and the body development. We know now that older woman is at higher risk of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. Many tests are offered to determine whether a baby will have Down syndrome. Look at the following statistics.

• At age 25 the risk is 1 in 1300 births
• At 30 it is 1 in 965 births
• At 35 it is 1 in 365 births
• At 40 it is 1 in 109 births
• At 45 it is 1 in 32 births
• At 49 it is 1 in 12 births

It doesn’t look good by this why but there is another way to look up these stats. If you are 49 you have 92% of delivering a child WITHOUT Down syndrome.
The father’s age is always very important. Men after 55 have twice the normal risk of fathering a child with Down syndrome.
Test for Down syndrome are:

• Chrorionic Villus Sampling – between 9th and 11th week of pregnancy
• Alfa-fetoprotein Testing – between 16th and 18th week of pregnancy
• Pap Smears
• Triple-Screen Test
• Amniocentesis - between 16th and 18th week of pregnancy
• Quad-screen Test
For more information I found this book very useful
Diagnose Down- Syndrom."