It is noted again, as Armando pointed out a few months ago, that every time fewer babies born with Down syndrome. I was struck by the news recently collected by the Diario Vasco, which explains that in Guipuzcoa only three babies are born every year with this chromosomal alteration. It is striking that they are so few, since it implies that the diagnosis almost invariably leads to the decision of an abortion. The news also explains that, for example, in the province of Burgos in the last two years there was no birth of babies with these characteristics.
Performing a diagnostic ultrasound between weeks 11 and 14 of pregnancy and the extension of amniocentesis makes it possible to detect a huge number of congenital problems. Among those detected the most common is Down syndrome. Once the diagnosis is known, most parents decide to terminate the pregnancy and there are very few who keep going.
But what do you expect in life to a baby who is going to be born with Down syndrome?
The baby that born with Down syndrome is a baby like any other, fruit of the love of the parents. It can show certain problems that we are able to face better and better. Research on Down syndrome in the field of education and health is so intense that we are achieving substantial improvements from one generation to another.
No two people are alike even though they all have 46 chromosomes; Nor are there two people with the same Down syndrome, although both have 47. Their development, their qualities, their problems, their degree of disability will be very different.
Nor is there any relationship between the intensity of physical traits (for example, the face) and the degree of development of cognitive activities. However accused the Down's Syndrome In the face, it may not be so much in the development of your brain.
Finally, the progress in brain activity It is not the exclusive fruit of genes but also of the environment, so parents with a child with Down syndrome can help, both at home and supported by education professionals, to overcome many of their difficulties.
He Down's Syndrome It is related to pathologies and health problems. The most common are congenital heart disease, overweight and digestive tract diseases, but not in all cases they occur. Generalized muscular atony and some delay in mental development are common, although the intensity of these characteristics is very variable. People with Down usually suffer from some diseases in greater proportion than the rest of the population, such as leukemia, diabetes, or hypothyroidism.
Their life expectancy is between 50 and 60 years but, since the advances in prevention and general medicine are increasing, possibly the children born today could have a longer life.
Intellectual disability is perhaps the problem that parents fear most, but in this field there are also more and more support programs that can make these children develop their abilities. We can say that there is no relationship between the external features and the intellectual development of the person with DS. The case of Pablo Pineda, the first European with Down syndrome who is a university graduate and who speaks in the interview that leads this text, is known.
Down syndromeApart from a series of our own physical characteristics, which we all know in more or less detail, it entails an intellectual delay. The importance of it will depend in large part on the way in which the child develops, on his family environment and on the education he receives. There is a great scale of possibilities and of course, the more attention and love is dedicated, the better it will develop.
From the deep respect for the parents' decision, it is worrying that the Down's Syndrome It is considered such a serious problem, as many of those who suffer from it can have a full life and develop social and intellectual capacities that until recently seemed impossible for them.
The truth is that such news leads parents to enormous concerns about the future life of their children, fear for them when parents are missing, fear associated diseases and mental disability. Those who decide to move forward with pregnancy or receive the news at birth also face great difficulties and fears.
Information can be vital when we face a decision as important as stopping or continuing a pregnancy with the Down syndrome diagnosis.
