Often when affected with a disorder, one feels as if it is their own fault and asks "Why me?" Fragile X is among one of these disorders. However, as with many other disorders this one has biological causations attributed to it, which will be explained in detail. Being "the most common cause of genetically-inherited mental impairment" Fragile X varies over the range of problems it inflicts among individuals. It can affect individuals with symptoms ranging from slight learning difficulties all the way to severe mental retardation, as well as cause many physical and behavioral problems. However, because the affects of the disorder can be obscured, fragile X is often an undiagnosed disorder. For this reason many people can go through their life never knowing they posses this disorder. However, as we move along into the future further tests and treatments are being created to allow this knowledge to be revealed to individuals affected by fragile X. .
As a main consequence of mental impairment, fragile X occurs in approximately "1 in 2000 males and 1 in 4000 females of all races and ethnic groups." Another statistic that has been shown is that about 1 in 259 females are carriers while 1 in 800 males are. This very high occurrence of people in the society with fragile X backs up the belief that it is the most common genetic disorder. Also, as mentioned before, it must not be forgotten many people are poorly diagnosed with no knowledge of the disorder all throughout life. The reason for the lower prevalence of fragile X in males is that the disorder comes about by an affected X chromosome, which has twice the change of happening in females because they have two X chromosomes. Also a son will only be able to receive this defected chromosome from his mother, while contrary, a daughter will be able to receive it from either parent. However, in contrast to the higher occurrence level, females have a lower percentage affected because of the mere fact that they have two X chromosomes.
