Down Syndrome Have you ever caught yourself staring at an individual you believed to be retarded or handicapped? Maybe you snickered under your breath when one of them made a funny noise that caught you off guard. I m sure many of us have been in a situation similar to these and know the guilty feeling you get inside when you react in such a manner to their actions. I think most of our guilt comes from pity and our reactions come from the lack of knowledge on the topic. People tend to ignore what they do not understand and I m writing this to hopefully change some of it. Down syndrome is a condition that can not be physically passed from one person to the next. It is a genetic disorder that is inherited through our parents when something goes wrong during pregnancy. The most common of all errors during pregnancy is called trisomy. This is where the fetus obtains extra parts of a chromosome, which leads to faulty growth of the brain. An affected person will have 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46. The chromosomal error can be found on chromosome number 21. Minor cases of Down syndrome may leave a person with different physical features but have such little affect on their thinking process, it s almost unnoticeable. However, there are more severe cases in which an affected person will most likely end up being reliant on someone else for their entire lives. Although down syndrome has been around for centuries in the human race, no cure has been discovered. Affected people have a wide variety of treatments to cope with the disease and live life as normal as possible. Special schools will help people with the disease learn basic skills needed in the real world and physical therapy classes can also be taken to help with the lack of muscle control that is experienced in most cases. Besides physical deformities and mental retardation, affected people may not have much control over their bodies. Most have a tendency to have some body parts in what appears to be endless motion. Sudden jolts in the body s limbs contribute to the intensity of this disease and it is usually never taken control of.

Doctors have done extensive research on this disease over the years and have made some very important findings that are making life easier for these infected individuals and the families that take care of them. An amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling can be used to detect any chromosomal abnormality before the baby is even born! Unfortunately, 90% of mothers (or mothers to be) use this knowledge for abortion. In some ways, I feel abortion is ok for this reason because the person would have never fully adapted to the working world thus leaving him/her stranded for life. On the flip side, it is a human life. It is said that one out of every 700 babies will be infected with down syndrome. However, these odds may very depending on the age of the mother. A child born to a woman 25 years of age has approximately a 1 in 1200 chance. A child born to a woman 40 years of age and over has a 1 in 120 chance.Leukemia is also a factor in that down syndrome patients are more likely to develop the disease than normal people. Although doctors are still unsure where or how Down syndrome originated, extensive studies have revealed many helpful tips in making these peoples lives as best as possible. Before today s studies, Down syndrome patients were put in mental institutions because people didn t know how to help them. Today, some of those that are handicapped are living individually and making a good living. In conclusion to my studies, down syndrome is a rare, yet present condition that can be found in all parts of the globe. Most people look at the individuals who are infected and tell themselves how lucky they are to not have to go through what some of them do. From some stand points, this is true to all of us. But how many will actually take the time to better understand the situation and actually see what makes them as special as us? It s human nature to ignore or criticize the unknown, this will always be true to a certain point. Just as the truth will always remain the same in that these people are beautiful human beings that deserve the same respect and rights as us.