Down Syndrome: One Smart Cookie

This book presents Down syndrome, which is the most common chromosomal disorder in humans, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 700 births. The book describes the characteristic physical features caused by Down syndrome and the myriad of symptoms and health complications it brings, including heart defects, congenital vision and hearing loss, abnormalities of the musculoskeletal system, digestive problems, epilepsy, leukemia, an increased risk of infectious disease, intellectual disability, and dementia from Alzheimer's disease. Readers will learn about methods by which Down syndrome can be diagnosed prenatally or at birth. Causes of Down syndrome include errors in the distribution of chromosomes during reproduction, and the effects of extra copies of the approximately 250 genes on chromosome 21. The book describes a positive correlation between maternal age and the risk of Down syndrome. It covers treatments for Down syndrome congenital defects and health complications; approaches to the education of children with Down syndrome; and physical, speech, occupational, and behavioral therapies that benefit children and adults with Down syndrome. Future prospects for the diagnosis and treatment of Down syndrome are presented, including experimental drugs, stem cell therapies, a process by which embryos produced in a clinical laboratory can be screened for Down syndrome before being used to establish a pregnancy, and several Down syndrome gene therapy strategies.

• | Author: Todd Eckdahl
• | Publisher: Momentum Press
• | Publication Date: Nov 21, 2017
• | Number of Pages: 90 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1944749616
• | ISBN-13: 9781944749613