Identify the cause of childbirth with Down syndrome

According to two German researchers at Essen University Hospital, not only the high age of women increases the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome, but the number of maternal pregnancies and the age gap between The children also increase this risk.

(Photo: HTV) Down syndrome is a disease caused by the most common chromosomal condition. Children with Down syndrome have in cells 47 chromosomes instead of 46 as usual. The chromosome is chromosome 21.

The researchers Markus Neuhauser and Sven Krakow analyzed data in the birth records between 1953 and 1972. They noted that mothers who give birth with extra chromosome 21 are not only older than the others. another mother.

The researchers' calculations demonstrated that the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome in the first-born elderly mothers was higher than for the elderly mothers who had children. In addition, the greater the age difference between the offspring, the higher the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome.

The mechanism of Down syndrome is not well understood, but the closer it is to menopause, the uterus loses its ability to select normal embryos and allows embryonic defect to develop until it forms. The screening system becomes ineffective and loose.

The results of the study may help to find effective solutions to prevent the birth of babies with birth defects.

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