Why are children born with Down syndrome?

Down's syndrome is a fairly common genetic disease: according to statistics, it is present in one newborn of seven hundred. Identify the disease can be by prenatal diagnosis during pregnancy, but finally cure the child before or after birth, modern medicine is not capable. Therefore, many future parents are very concerned about the question of why children with Down syndrome are born and how to prevent it. After all, the deviations in mental and physical development in such small patients are very significant and are not always completely corrected by taking medication and intensive training.

Factors responsible for the development of the disease

Modern medicine has established that the reasons explaining why children with Down syndrome are born are in no way dependent on the climate of the country, the nationality of mother and father, their color or way of life, and the social conditions in which the family lives.

This disease is caused by the presence in the child's genotype of an extra chromosome. In all cells of the human body contains 46 chromosomes, responsible for the transfer of hereditary traits from parents to children. All of them are paired: male and female. But sometimes a serious genetic malfunction occurs, so an extra 47th chromosome appears in 21 pairs of chromosomes. That's why the children are born, the full healing of which is unlikely, because in our time, genetic deviations are not amenable to correction.

Let us examine in more detail the most important factors, the influence of which can lead to the appearance of a sick child:

1. Mother's age exceeding 33-35 years. Studies have shown that the risk of having a son or daughter with Down syndrome is significantly higher in such women. This is due to the onset of aging of the body when it can produce infertile eggs, or transferred diseases of female genital organs. Often such mothers before this were born dead children or they died at an early age. Therefore, if you are at risk, during pregnancy, an amniocentesis is recommended, in which the amniotic fluid is taken and then the appropriate analysis is performed. Do not neglect this procedure: when studying the question of why a child with Down syndrome can be born, doctors have established an interesting fact. If in young women under the age of 25 the probability of birth of a newborn with such a disease is 1/1400, in women giving birth, whose age is more than 35 years, the risk is much larger: on average, one case of 350 births.
2. Hereditary factor. Although it is known that men with such a disease are infertile, 50% of women with Down's syndrome may have offspring. However, in most cases, children inherit this disease, so it is worth considering whether it is necessary to continue genus with such a diagnosis.
3. Age of the father. One of the reasons why a baby-down can be born is that the father is over 42 years old. During this period, the quality of the sperm deteriorates somewhat, so fertilization of the egg with an inferior sperm and the risk of developing this serious genetic disease are more than probable.
4. Marriages between very close relatives. It is not by chance that in most cultures of the world it is forbidden to marry not only relatives, but even first cousins ​​and second cousins ​​brothers and sisters.
5. The specialists have established why children with Down syndrome are sometimes born: the older the woman was at the time of the birth of the daughter, the greater the probability of the birth of a sick grandson or granddaughter.