Do Down syndrome adults age faster?

FINDINGS. A new UCLA study is the first to demonstrate that Down syndrome accelerates aging in different parts of the body. The researchers showed that the biological age of brain tissue from someone with Down syndrome appeared 11 years older than the person's chronological age.


What happens to people with Down syndrome when they get older?

Adults with DS are at age-related increased risk for dementia, skin and hair changes, early onset menopause, visual and hearing impairments, adult onset seizure disorder, thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea and musculoskeletal problems.

How long do adults with Down syndrome live?

People with Down syndrome can expect to live to 60

In the 1940s, a child with Down syndrome had a life expectancy of 12 years. These days, their life expectancy is 60 years and a baby born with Down syndrome could live into their 80s — in line with the general population.


Which condition do older adults with Down syndrome tend to develop?

Many but not all people with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer's disease when they get older. People with Down syndrome are born with an extra copy of chromosome 21, which carries a gene that produces a specific protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP).

Does Down syndrome shorten life?

Today the average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome is approximately 60 years. As recently as 1983, the average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome was 25 years. The dramatic increase to 60 years is largely due to the end of the inhumane practice of institutionalizing people with Down syndrome.


Aging with Down Syndrome (13 Minutes)



What is the most common cause of death in Down syndrome?

Heart and lung diseases are the leading causes of death for persons with Down syndrome. Pneumonia and infectious lung disease, congenital heart defect (CHD) and circulatory disease (vascular diseases not including CHD or ischaemic heart disease) account for ∼75% of all deaths in persons with Down syndrome.

What is the longest someone with Down syndrome live?

Kenny Cridge, the world's oldest living man with Down's Syndrome, celebrated his 76th birthday recently with family, friends and cake. In 2008, the Guinness World Records who presented him with a certificate. In the 1940s the average life expectancy for people with Down's Syndrome was just 12 years old.

What age does dementia start in Down syndrome?

Many people with Down syndrome are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in their 50s, but it is not uncommon for symptoms to occur in their late 40s. The presence of Alzheimer's disease in people with Down syndrome can lead to a rapid, progressive decline in brain health.


What is the average mental age of a person with Down syndrome?

Those with Down syndrome nearly always have physical and intellectual disabilities. As adults, their mental abilities are typically similar to those of an 8- or 9-year-old. They also typically have poor immune function and generally reach developmental milestones at a later age.

Which organ is most often affected by Down syndrome?

Heart defects — Approximately half of all babies with Down syndrome are born with (often repairable) heart defects. Usually, these defects affect the walls separating the four chambers of the heart.

Can people with Downs syndrome have children?

Yes. A woman with Down's syndrome can have children. If her partner does not have Down's syndrome, the theoretical chance of the child having Down's syndrome is 50%. There have been only a few reports of men with Down's syndrome fathering children.


Can a man with Down syndrome have a baby?

Men with Down syndrome are considered as infertile although the causes of infertility are not known in detail yet. Although this constitutes a general rule there are three confirmed cases of parenting by fathers with Down syndrome.

Can Down syndrome people have normal kids?

Many pregnancies in women with Down syndrome produce children both with normal and with trisomy 21, whereas males are infertile. However, Down syndrome males are not always infertile and this is not global. Here we reported a 36-year-old man with proved nonmosaic trisomy 21 fathered two normal boys.

What do adults with Down syndrome struggle with?

Common conditions encountered in adults with DS include: AD, epilepsy, mood and behavioral disorders, visual and hearing impairment, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and autoimmune diseases, such as thyroiditis and celiac disease.


Is Down syndrome related to age of father?

Fisch and his colleagues found that the rate of Down syndrome steadily increased with advancing paternal age for the maternal age group of 35 to 39 years. The greatest increase, however, was seen in the maternal age group of 40 years and older with increasing paternal age.

Why do people with Down syndrome get dementia?

Causes and risk factors

Scientists think that the increased risk of dementia — like other health issues associated with Down syndrome — results from the extra genes present. One of the chromosome 21 genes of greatest interest in the Down syndrome/Alzheimer's connection codes amyloid precursor protein (APP).

What age of mother causes Down syndrome?

Women who are 35 years or older when they become pregnant are more likely to have a pregnancy affected by Down syndrome than women who become pregnant at a younger age.3-5However, the majority of babies with Down syndrome are born to mothers less than 35 years old, because there are many more births among younger women ...


What are the 4 types of Down syndrome?

There are three types of Down syndrome: trisomy 21 (nondisjunction), translocation and mosaicism. Trisomy 21 (nondisjunction) accounts for 95% of known cases of Down syndrome.

What health problems might a person with Down syndrome have?

Some of the common medical issues as outlined by the Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome include “congenital cardiac and gastrointestinal anomalies, autoimmune conditions, diverse leukemias, respiratory infections, sleep disorders, hearing and vision loss and early development of Alzheimer's-type dementia.”

Can Down syndrome cause early death?

Adults with Down syndrome often die at earlier ages than their peers in the general population. This data slice describes increased risk of death across different age groups from Dementia/Alzheimer's, Influenza/Pneumonia, and Pneumonitis for adults with Down syndrome.


Are most children with Down syndrome born to older parents?

According to the National Down Syndrome Society, the only factor that has been linked to an increased chance of having a baby with Down syndrome is increased maternal age, however, due to higher birth rates in younger women, 80% of children with Down syndrome are born to women under 35 years of age.

What are the behavioral symptoms of Down syndrome?

They often have mild to moderate intellectual disability and may have specific challenges with attention span, verbal memory, and expressive communication. Behavioral problems such as stubbornness, impulsivity, and temper tantrums may be more common in children with Down syndrome.

Why do people with Down syndrome talk differently?

The difference could lie in the size and shape of the larynx itself. It is known that individuals with Down syndrome may have physical abnormalities such as incomplete development of the sinus areas of the skull ( Benda, 1969 ).


Why do people with Down syndrome live shorter?

Low birth weight, congenital heart defect, black and minority ethnicity, and comorbidities were associated with lower life expectancy and higher mortality rates. Respiratory illness and congenital heart anomalies were the leading causes of death in most studies, and more common than in the general population.

What is the biggest known risk factor for Down syndrome?

Genetics. A translocation that will ultimately lead to a child having Down syndrome often takes place when the parent of that child is conceived. Part of one chromosome breaks off and becomes attached to another chromosome during cell division.