Archive for the 'Down Syndrome' Category

Antioxidants And Nutrients Does Not Help Children With Down’s Syndrome improve their condition,according to the study published on bmj.com.UK researchers studied the effect of giving such supplements to 156 babies under 7 months old with Down’s syndrome over an 18-month period.
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Antioxidants And Nutrients Does Not Help Children With Down’s Syndrome

A new study from the University of Michigan says that treadmill training for just a minute a day can help the babies with down syndrome walk upto four or five times earlier than with the traditional physical therapy.They also stressed that Infants who do high intensity treadmill training may walk even earlier.

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Treadmill Training Helps Babies With Down Syndrome Walk Earlier

Children with Down syndrome have higher level of a hormone leptin which may contribute to higher risk of obesity, according to researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine.

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Hormone responsible for higher risk of obesity in Down syndrome

Scientists have shown that a protein involved in cholesterol metabolism may cause the accelerated onset of Alzheimer’s Disease in individuals affected with Down Syndrome.

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New Link Between Down Syndrome And Alzheimer’s Disease

But ACOG emphasizes that the recommendation should not be automatically applied to all women.
The new recommendation was presented earlier this week at ACOG’s annual meeting in San Diego.
“Not every patient wishes to utilize this type of information,” says Dr. Deborah Driscoll, chairwoman of the obstetrics-gynecology department at the University of Pennsylvania.

“It’s important for patients to understand that this is voluntary,” adds Dr. Driscoll, who helped draft the association’s recommendations. “Screening isn’t right for every patient, and we have to respect the autonomy of patients.”

What To Do With Test Information?

Despite technological advances, it is still anything but simple for pregnant women to determine what to do after getting test results that suggest possible problems with a fetus.

At issue is the possibility that an unborn child will develop Down syndrome or other conditions related to chromosome abnormalities. Down syndrome can lead to congenital heart defects and mental retardation.

Genetic testing and counseling have traditionally been offered to women aged 35 and over, because they are at highest risk of giving birth to babies with chromosome problems. An estimated one in 92 mothers in this group gives birth to children with chromosomal disorders.

But the traditional screening tests - amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) - are both considered invasive and pose a small risk to the fetus.

Both tests involve inserting a long needle through a woman’s abdomen to obtain fluid or tissue samples for examination in the lab.

The New Recommendation

ACOG now recommends that doctors offer non-invasive screening tests to all mothers before the 20th week of pregnancy. The doctors’ group favors a combination of two tests: nuchal translucency (a type of ultrasound exam), and a blood test.

If either of those tests suggests trouble, amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling may be offered.

“The important take-home message is this: Better testing is available with higher detection rates and lower false-positive rates,” says Dr. James D. Goldberg, medical director at San Francisco Perinatal Associates and immediate past chairman of the association’s Committee on Genetics.

Mother Should Decide

The ultimate decision about screening, though, should remain with the mother, the doctors say. After all, she must decide whether to continue with a pregnancy if there are indications the child will have a birth defect.

“It’s clear that people make a decision on whether to have basic testing based on a number of factors - age, risk, feelings about having a child with a chromosomal abnormality,” Dr. Goldberg says. “A lot of things go into individual risk decision-making.”

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) may have found a way to reverse the learning deficit associated with Down syndrome. The findings could potentially lead to a new therapy to increase the learning capacity of children and adults born with the genetic disorder. The findings are published in the Aug. 15 advance online edition of Neuropsychopharmacology, a publication of the Nature Publishing Group. Continue Reading »
New Research Uncovers Clue to Help Down Syndrome Patients Increase Learning Capacity