Down Syndrome is a very serious disease.
is a genetic disease that is caused by an extra chromosome.
Down Syndrome was first discovered by a physician named.
John Langdon Down in 1866. He was a superintendent of an.
asylum for children with mental retardation in Surrey,.
England. He noticed that the children with Down Syndrome.
looked the same. He later published an essay on the.
subject. John Langdon Down referred to the children with.
Down Syndrome "Mongoloids." Down said they looked like.
natives from Mongolia. That unfortunate name was later.
changed to Down Syndrome.
Children or adults with Down Sydrome have a widely.
recognized characteristic appearance. The head may be.
smaller or abnormally shaped. There may be a flattened.
nose, potruding tongue, and upward slanting eyes. There may.
be serious heart defects present in people with Down.
Syndrome. A heart murmur may be included in the heart.
conditions if one would have Down Syndrome.
Down Syndrom cannot be prevented since it is a genetic.
disorder. Down Syndrome can be deected in a fetus in the.
first few months of pregnancy by examination of the.
chromosomes obtained by sampling. Mothers who become.
pregnant after 40 are also at increased risk for having a.
child with Down Syndrome. .
The chromosomes are holders of the genes, those bits of.
DNA that direct the production of a wide array of materials.
the body needs. This is called the genes "expression." In.
Down Syndrom, the presence of an extra set of genes leads to.
overexpression of the involved genes, leading to increased.
production of certain products. Overexpression of genes.
could include retardation, heart defects, or even cataracts. .
Scientists are still not yet sure which genes are the.
suspects of Down Syndrome.
People with Down Syndrome could mate a have children. .
But most of the people will have mental retardation or heart.
conditions. If a person with Down Syndrome would mate, Down.
Syndrome could be passed to the offspring.