This condition is more common as the age of the mother increases but recent research would indicate that it may also increase as the father’s age increases.
Children who have this condition have been called mongols because their typical appearance is similar to those who belong to the mongol race. However, the abnormality is generalised, affecting all the body.
Mental retardation always occurs, but it may be mild or severe.
Down’s syndrome occurs about once in every 660 births. There is a rarer form of this disorder which occurs as a hereditary factor where a recessive gene is carried by the parents. This is uncommon and it can occur to children of mothers of any age.
The risk of this happening in any pregnancy for those who carry the gene is one in four.
Where a child is born with Down’s syndrome, it is usual to test the genetic structure of the child and both parents.
In this way it can be determined whether the condition has occurred spontaneously and therefore the chances of it occurring in another pregnancy are the same statistically as for the rest of the population.
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