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Clinically proven
to reduce oxidative stress.
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Oxidative Stress and Down Syndrome
Down Syndrome (DS) or trisomy 21 is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. In trisomy 21, the presence of an extra set of genes leads to overexpression of the involved genes, leading to increased production of certain products. For most genes, their overexpression has little effect due to the body's regulating mechanisms of genes and their products. But the genes that cause Down syndrome appear to be exceptions. Genes that may have input into Down syndrome include:
- Superoxide Dismustase (SOD1)-- overexpression may cause premature aging and decreased function of the immune system; its role in Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer's type or decreased cognition is still speculative
- COL6A1 -- overexpression may be the cause of heart defects
- ETS2 -- overexpression may be the cause of skeletal abnormalities
- CAF1A -- overexpression may be detrimental to DNA synthesis
- Cystathione Beta Synthase (CBS) -- overexpression may disrupt metabolism and DNA repair
- DYRK -- overexpression may be the cause of mental retardation
- CRYA1 -- overexpression may be the cause of cataracts
- GART -- overexpression may disrupt DNA synthesis and repair
- IFNAR -- the gene for expression of Interferon, overexpression may interfere with the immune system as well as other organ systems
Oxidative stress has been associated with DS and occurs decades prior to the signature pathology and manifests as lipid, protein and DNA oxidation, and mitochondrial abnormalities. Patients with DS have elevated ratio of superoxide dismutase to catalase plus glutathione peroxidase with respect to controls in all age categories suggesting that oxidative imbalance contributes to the clinical manifestation of accelerated aging.
About Down Syndrome
- The most common and readily identifiable chromosomal condition associated with mental retardation.
- Approximately 5000 children with Down Syndrome are born in the U.S. each year.
- In the United States today, DS affects more than 350,000 people
- The incidence of giving birth to a child with DS is higher for women over 35
- Approximately one-third of babies born with DS have heart defects.
- Children with Down Syndrome frequently have health-related problems, ranging from a lowered resistance to infection (making these children prone to upper respiratory problems) to visual problems such as crossed eyes and far- or near-sightedness, to mild to moderate hearing loss and speech difficulty
- The risk of pneumonia is 62 times higher than in non-Down people
- The risk of leukemia is 10-15 times high than in non-Down people
Risk Factors
- Down Syndrome occurs at conception – so nothing in the pregnancy can cause DS to occur.
- 95% of all cases are not inherited, so having a sibling with DS does not increase one’s risk of having another child with DS
- The risk of having a Downs Syndrome baby increases in women over the age of 35, but because of the higher fertility rates in younger women, most Downs Syndrome babies are born to those younger than 35. There is speculation that in older expecting women, the aging immune system's ability to police the fetus for chromosomal abnormalities decreases. This would, theoretically, lead to older women carrying Downs Syndrome babies to term, as compared to younger woman who would spontaneously abort a fetus with extra genetic material.
Risk Reducers
There are blood screening and diagnostic tests that can be performed prior to birth, which can provide mo | | |
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