Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that presents itself right at the event of a child’s conception if said child has an excess amount of a particular portion of the genetic code embedded in its genetic makeup. Down syndrome occurs in about 0.13% of all live births and can manifest as physical growth defects, general mental slowness, and excessively impulsive behavior as the afflicted child matures. This genetic defect may also result in the loss of a pregnancy before birth as certain key developmental stages during pregnancy are perhaps significantly altered or hindered. Interestingly, this defect is more common with mothers that are of a relatively advanced age. Studies have shown that the frequency of down syndrome related pregnancies actually increases to ~1% in mothers that are 35 years of age or older. In our modern world where most women spend their 20s building careers, a lot of families now routinely have children while the childbearing mother is in her 30s and beyond. Thankfully, advances in modern medicine have yielded minimally invasive screening and diagnostic techniques that can tell a family with a high degree of certainty whether or not the current pregnancy is associated with a child afflicted by down syndrome. Continue reading Clever genetic tests, and mitigating the effects of Down Syndrome.
About the blog
The blog contains articles that discuss topics in the self-improvement realm on the blog page, as well as articles that simplify scientific concepts for the curious ones among us who don't have a scientific background on the science in plain english page. We release articles fairly regularly, and provide updates of pieces of art as they near completion on the instagram page. You can also listen to some tunes on the music page.
Join 94 other subscribers
Categories
- Blog (57)
- Great Books (8)
- Podcast (8)
- Science in plain english (23)
- Welcome page (1)
Blog post archives
- February 2019
- January 2019
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- July 2014