Breastfeeding Your Baby With Down Syndrome Medical Quotes

Down's syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome.

What is Down syndrome?

Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are small "packages" of genes in the body. They determine how a baby'due south body forms and functions as information technology grows during pregnancy and after birth. Typically, a babe is born with 46 chromosomes. Babies with Down syndrome take an extra copy of one of these chromosomes, chromosome 21. A medical term for having an extra copy of a chromosome is 'trisomy.' Down syndrome is also referred to as Trisomy 21. This extra copy changes how the baby'due south body and brain develop, which can cause both mental and concrete challenges for the babe.

Even though people with Down syndrome might act and expect like, each person has dissimilar abilities. People with Down syndrome usually have an IQ (a measure of intelligence) in the mildly-to-moderately depression range and are slower to speak than other children.

Some common physical features of Down syndrome include:

• A flattened face, especially the span of the nose
• Almond-shaped eyes that slant upwards
• A short neck
• Small ears
• A natural language that tends to stick out of the oral cavity
• Tiny white spots on the iris (colored part) of the eye
• Small hands and feet
• A single line across the palm of the hand (palmar crease)
• Small pinky fingers that sometimes bend toward the thumb
• Poor musculus tone or loose joints
• Shorter in superlative as children and adults

How Many Babies are Born with Down's syndrome?

Downward syndrome remains the most mutual chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States. Each year, about vi,000 babies born in the United states accept Down's syndrome. This means that Down syndrome occurs in about ane in every 700 babies.^ane

Types of Down's syndrome

In that location are 3 types of Down syndrome. People often can't tell the difference between each type without looking at the chromosomes because the physical features and behaviors are similar.

• Trisomy 21: Near 95% of people with Downward syndrome have Trisomy 21.² With this blazon of Downwardly syndrome, each cell in the body has 3 separate copies of chromosome 21 instead of the usual 2 copies.
• Translocation Down syndrome: This type accounts for a minor percentage of people with Down syndrome (about 3%).² This occurs when an actress part or a whole extra chromosome 21 is nowadays, simply information technology is attached or "trans-located" to a different chromosome rather than existence a separate chromosome 21.
• Mosaic Down syndrome: This blazon affects nearly ii% of the people with Down syndrome.ⁱⁱ Mosaic means mixture or combination. For children with mosaic Down syndrome, some of their cells take iii copies of chromosome 21, but other cells have the typical two copies of chromosome 21. Children with mosaic Downward syndrome may have the same features every bit other children with Down syndrome. However, they may accept fewer features of the condition due to the presence of some (or many) cells with a typical number of chromosomes.

Causes and Risk Factors

• The extra chromosome 21 leads to the physical features and developmental challenges that tin occur among people with Down syndrome. Researchers know that Down's syndrome is caused past an actress chromosome, simply no one knows for sure why Down syndrome occurs or how many dissimilar factors play a function.
• One factor that increases the run a risk for having a baby with Down syndrome is the mother's age. Women who are 35 years or older when they become pregnant are more likely to have a pregnancy affected by Downward syndrome than women who become pregnant at a younger historic period.^3-5However, the majority of babies with Down syndrome are born to mothers less than 35 years onetime, because there are many more births amid younger women.^6,vii

Diagnosis

In that location are two basic types of tests available to observe Down syndrome during pregnancy: screening tests and diagnostic tests. A screening examination can tell a woman and her healthcare provider whether her pregnancy has a lower or college adventure of having Down syndrome. Screening tests practise not provide an accented diagnosis, but they are safer for the mother and the developing baby. Diagnostic tests tin typically detect whether or non a baby will have Down syndrome, simply they can be more than risky for the mother and developing infant. Neither screening nor diagnostic tests can predict the total impact of Down syndrome on a baby; no one can predict this.

Screening Tests

Screening tests often include a combination of a blood examination, which measures the amount of various substances in the mother'southward blood (e.chiliad., MS-AFP, Triple Screen, Quad-screen), and an ultrasound, which creates a picture of the baby. During an ultrasound, one of the things the technician looks at is the fluid backside the baby'due south neck. Extra fluid in this region could indicate a genetic problem. These screening tests tin assistance determine the baby'southward risk of Downwardly syndrome. Rarely, screening tests can give an abnormal result even when there is cipher wrong with the baby. Sometimes, the exam results are normal and yet they miss a problem that does exist.

Diagnostic Tests

Diagnostic tests are usually performed later on a positive screening test in order to confirm a Downwardly syndrome diagnosis. Types of diagnostic tests include:

• Chorionic villus sampling (CVS)—examines cloth from the placenta
• Amniocentesis—examines the amniotic fluid (the fluid from the sac surrounding the baby)
• Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling (PUBS)—examines blood from the umbilical string

These tests look for changes in the chromosomes that would indicate a Down's syndrome diagnosis.

Other Health Issues

Many people with Down syndrome take the common facial features and no other major nascence defects. However, some people with Down syndrome might have one or more major birth defects or other medical problems. Some of the more common wellness issues amid children with Down's syndrome are listed below.^eight

• Hearing loss
• Obstructive sleep apnea, which is a condition where the person'due south breathing temporarily stops while asleep
• Ear infections
• Eye diseases
• Heart defects present at nativity

Health care providers routinely monitor children with Downward syndrome for these conditions.

Treatments

Down's syndrome is a lifelong condition. Services early in life will oft help babies and children with Down syndrome to improve their physical and intellectual abilities. Most of these services focus on helping children with Down's syndrome develop to their full potential. These services include speech, occupational, and physical therapy, and they are typically offered through early intervention programs in each state. Children with Downward syndrome may also need actress aid or attending in school, although many children are included in regular classes.

Other Resources

The views of these organizations are their own and do not reflect the official position of CDC.

• Down's syndrome Inquiry Foundation (DSRF)external icon
  DSRF initiates inquiry studies to better understand the learning styles of those with Down syndrome.
• Global Down Syndrome Foundationexternal icon
  This foundation is defended to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through enquiry, medical intendance, education and advocacy.
• National Association for Down syndromeexternal icon
  The National Association for Down syndrome supports all persons with Down syndrome in achieving their full potential. They seek to help families, educate the public, accost social issues and challenges, and facilitate active participation.
• National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)external icon
  NDSS seeks to increase sensation and acceptance of those with Down syndrome.

References

1. Mai CT, Isenburg JL, Canfield MA, Meyer RE, Correa A, Alverson CJ, Lupo PJ, Riehle‐Colarusso T, Cho SJ, Aggarwal D, Kirby RS. National population‐based estimates for major birth defects, 2010–2014. Birth Defects Research. 2019; 111(18): 1420-1435.
2. Shin M, Siffel C, Correa A. Survival of children with mosaic Down syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2010;152A:800-ane.
3. Allen EG, Freeman SB, Druschel C, et al. Maternal age and chance for trisomy 21 assessed by the origin of chromosome nondisjunction: a report from the Atlanta and National Down syndrome Projects. Hum Genet. 2009 Feb;125(one):41-52.
4. Ghosh S, Feingold East, Dey SK. Etiology of Down syndrome: Evidence for consistent association among altered meiotic recombination, nondisjunction, and maternal age beyond populations. Am J Med Genet A. 2009 Jul;149A(7):1415-20.
5. Sherman SL, Allen EG, Edible bean LH, Freeman SB. Epidemiology of Down syndrome. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2007;13(3):221-seven.
6. Adams MM, Erickson JD, Layde PM, Oakley GP. Down's syndrome. Contempo trends in the Usa. JAMA. 1981 Aug 14;246(vii):758-60.
7. Olsen CL, Cross PK, Gensburg LJ, Hughes JP. The furnishings of prenatal diagnosis, population ageing, and changing fertility rates on the alive birth prevalence of Downwards syndrome in New York Land, 1983-1992. Prenat Diagn. 1996 November;16(11):991-1002.
8. Balderdash MJ, the Committee on Genetics. Health supervision for children with Down's syndrome. Pediatrics. 2011;128:393-406.

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Source: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/downsyndrome.html