Blood test for early detection of Down syndrome

Recently, scientists have announced a new way to help parents who are early to see if their baby has Down syndrome. That is the method of DNA testing in the mother's blood.

Once applied, it will help pregnant mothers not suffer from dangerous invasive tests such as amniocentesis . of current medical technology.

Down syndrome is a syndrome that causes both physical and mental retardation in the fetus , which is formed by a mutation in the 21st chromosome, so it is also called another triploid.

According to statistics, for every 800 babies born, there is one case of this disease. To prevent and detect this syndrome early, traditional medicine often uses techniques to sample amniotic fluid or placenta. That is how to use a long needle to prick the mother's abdomen to get a sample.

The above technique contains about 1% of the risk of miscarriage so it is only applicable to elderly women or suspected cases of true disease.

Professor Dennis Lo of the Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a study of DNA in the blood of 753 pregnant mothers at risk of Down syndrome.

As a result, up to 86 babies are diagnosed with this syndrome. According to the professor, the accuracy of the study can reach 96.6% and there is no case of misdiagnosis.

Therefore, it is a safe method to detect and eliminate harmful mutations that occur in the fetus before it is imperative to use potentially dangerous invasive tests.