Down syndrome and the impact of a longer life span

Your Child's Brain

We humans, typically, have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, we have an extra chromosome or we are missing one. Down syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder that occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of their 21st chromosome. Down syndrome is the most frequent of the chromosomal disorders in humans, occurring in approximately 1 in 700 births in the US. With improved care of often life-threatening clinical challenges, individuals with Down syndrome are living much longer.

In this month’s podcast of Your Child’s Brain we are going to talk about Down Syndrome and especially focus on how the increased lifespan of those with Down syndrome is impacting treatment and research for people living with this diagnosis.

Resources

· Down Syndrome Association of Maryland (dsamd.org)

· National Down Syndrome Society (ndss.org)

· National Down Syndrome Congress (ndsccenter.org)

· Global Down Syndrome Foundation (https://www.globaldownsyndrome.org)

· LuMind IDSC Foundation (https://lumindidsc.org)

· NIH – research plan across the LifeSpan - Project INCLUDE for co-occurring medical conditions (www.nih.gov/include-project)

· Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (nih.gov)

· National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices - Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Resources | The NTG (the-ntg.org)

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