Refering to someone with
Downs Syndrome - so really should be "
downsie" It is a genetic condition that is increasingly common the older the mother of a child is when she falls pregnant. Downs Sydrome is caused by non disjunction of the 21st chromosome (humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes - each parent supplies 23 chromosomes to the child getting a total of 46) which means chromosome 21 in the mother has not split like it should when
making sex cells (
gametes) and the child ends up with 3 copies of chromosome 21 compared to the usual 2. Some characteristics of
downs syndrome include:
Poor muscle tone
Slanting eyes with folds of skin at the inner corners (called epicanthal folds)
Hyperflexibility (excessive ability to extend the joints)
Short, broad hands with a single crease across the palm on one or both hands
Broad feet with short toes
Flat bridge of the nose
Short, low-set ears
Short neck
Small head
Small oral cavity
Short, high-pitched cries in infancy
Sufferers of Downs Syndrome are ussually smaller than their normal peers and their physical and intellectual development is ussually slower.
