HISTORY OF DOWN SYNDROME. I do not take the credit of this information. I copied/pasted from a website. I thought it was very interesting and even learned more myself. I didn't want to leave anything out.
The Ancient Early History of Down SyndromeThe earliest historical evidence of Down's Syndrome might be found in statues made by the Olmec people. The Olmecs were a tribe who lived in Central America between 1500 BC and 300 AD.
Archeaologists have found a large number of figurines that closely resemble a child with Down's Syndrome, featuring round, puffy faces, slanted eyes, epicanthic folds on the eyes, a short nose with a broad flat bridge, and obesity. We know these figurines must have come from somewhere in real life, as it is miserably difficult to produce quality art representing humans without a visual reference.
The Developing Classification of Down's SyndromeThe first clinical description of Down's Syndrome in history, was written and published by John Langdon Haydon Down (1828-1896) in 1866. Down was the superintendent of the Earlswood Asylum for Idiots in Surrey, England for many years.
This institution cared for children with mental retardation, which gave Dr. Down plenty of time to study people with various disorders. He made the first distinction between children who had been labeled "cretins" and children he labeled "mongoloids". These two designations were later found to refer to congential hypothyroidism and Down's Syndrome, respectively.
He labeled the children with Down's Syndrome "mongoloid" because of the highly prejudiced and mistaken beliefs about ethnicity that was historically prevalent at that time. He adopted his classification system from a dissertation by an early anthropologist named Blumenbach who described the divisions of the human race as Caucasians, Malay (Native Americans), Ethiopians (Africans), and Mongolians.
Though Down's clinical description of the syndrome was accurate, his belief that people with Down's Syndrome suffered from arrested ethnic development was clearly mistaken. This belief was mostly based on the tendency for people with Down's Syndrome to have an epicanthic fold of the eyes.
The term "Down's Syndrome" seems to have originated in Russia, where Mongolian people actually made up a portion of the population (and didn't take too kindly to the classification).
Despite his mistaken beliefs about ethnicity, Down was well known for his progressive thinking regarding learning disabilities and his efforts to improve the quality of life for his patients with training programs and research into the abilities of people with Down's Syndrome.
Progress from Discovery of Down Syndrome to Now: The recent history of Down's SyndromeKeep in mind that the specific cause of Down's Syndrome was historically impossible to prove until doctors got the capability of doing direct genetic research. At first, many researchers thought that Down's Syndrome was due to a kind of thyroid disease or a persistent infection such as tuberculosis or syphilis.
In 1896 Telford Smith noted the resemblances between Down's Syndrome and congenital hypothyroidism and theorized that they were two facets of the same problem. He also reported an improvement in the physical and mental condition of people with Down's Syndrome when given thyroid treatment.
Today we know that Down's Syndrome is caused by genetics while congenital hypothyroidism is often a product of iodine deficiency, but the ability to find these causes have only been available since the middle of the twentieth century. The most probable reason for the improvements that Dr. Smith noticed was that his patients had both Down's Syndrome and hypothyroidism.
We know today that people with Down's Syndrome often have thyroid problems of one kind or another, but they don't all have hypothyroidism. New laboratory techniques allow us to accurately identify and effectively treat the section of the population with Down's Syndrome and hypothyroidism together. However, this belief that all people with Down's Syndrome ought to be given thyroid treatments persisted until 1969.
Questions about the relationship between Down's Syndrome and thyroid problems persist in research even today. Modern researchers are questioning the relationship of thyroid problems in adults with Down's Syndrome to the occurrence of both Alzheimer's disease and zinc deficiency.
The next major point about people with Down's Syndrome came from Dr. Brushfield in 1924 with his identification and classification of "Brushfield spots", the white or grey spots that often appear on the irises of people with Down's Syndrome.
Dr. Waardenburg and Adrian Bleyer - 1930'sThe idea that genetics might contribute to Down's Syndrome was suspected as early as 1932 when it was suggested by a Dutch opthalmologist named Dr. Waardenburg. In 1934 Adrian Bleyer, an American, suggested the possibility that Down's Syndrome was due to the triplication, called a trisomy, of a chromosome. Unfortunately, the equipment to test these theories did not yet exist although time has proven these two men right.
Patricia Jacobs and Jerome Lejeune - 1950'sPatricia Jacobs in England and Jerome Lejeune in France reported an extra 21st chromosome in the DNA of people with Down's Syndrome almost simultaneously in 1959, even though they'd been working totally independently. The time, equipment and funding for this vital research was finally all available simultaneously.
Dr. Polani and Dr. Clarke - 1960'sIn quick succession, the research team under Dr. Polani discovered that some instances of Down's Syndrome were due to translocation in 1960 and the team under Dr. Clarke reported the first identified cases of mosaic Down's Syndrome in 1961.
The rise of Institutionalization for those with Down Syndrome - still in the 1960'sWhile the new research and understanding of the causes of Down's Syndrome were wonderful, some of the side effects were not. The ability to genetically test newborns for Down's Syndrome led to an era where almost all babies were institutionalized as soon as possible before their parents bonded to them. Institutionalization was considered the best option for these children and their families at the time, and it would take more research yet to prove that basic cultural assumption wrong.
Dr. Stedman and Dr. Eichorn - still in the 1960's - the argument against the Institutionalization of those with Down SyndromeIn 1964 a pair of scientists named Dr. Stedman and Dr. Eichorn studied and described the negative impact that institutionalization had on children with Down's Syndrome. During their studies they found that the lack of a significant, continuing caregiver and the general lack of stimulation provided by the institutional environment was lowering cognitive ability even further than Down's Syndrome did by itself.
This breakthrough convinced doctors that hospitalized and institutionalized children have emotional needs as much as any other child, that they responded better to care when those emotional needs are met. It also led the medical community to understand that a multidisciplinary approach was necessary for children with all kinds of disabilites.
Eventually a new specialty of medicine developed just to handle these care issues called developmental pediatrics. This new specialty was created to train pediatricians to handle the specialized needs of children who are developmentally challenged.
Mongoloid, Down Syndrome or Down's Syndrome - still in the 1960'sIn related news, the term "mongoloid" finally came under fire from Asian genetic researchers and the parents of children with Down's Syndrome in the 1960's.
Once the Mongolian delegate to the WHO asked that the term no longer be used, it was dropped in favor of "Down's Syndrome" on an international basis.
Later on the medical community in the United States voted to drop the possessive in the name and just call it "Down Syndrome" because Dr. Down neither owned or suffered from the syndrome.
The PARC Trial - every child had a right to a free and appropriate public education program, regardless of mental ability - 1970'sThe 1970's were a time of great progress for people with Down's Syndrome. In the United States, 1972 was a landmark year when the PARC case came to trial. The result was a declaration that every child had a right to a free and appropriate public education program, regardless of mental ability. Similar rulings were taking place all over the world.
In 1973 parents and professional caregivers of people with Down's Syndrome came together to form the Down's Syndrome Congress devoted to increasing the level of care and the possibilities for people with Down's Syndrome.
The end of the automatic push for the Institutionalization of those with Down Syndrome - Still in the 1970'sAs the belief that institutionalization was best vaporized and children with Down's Syndrome started living at home in greater numbers, the medical profession as a whole realized they were going to have to provide to this patient group on a wide basis. Clinicians started to pay more attention to the basic health needs of these children, expanding into areas such as cardiac, gastrointestinal and auditory care among others.
Because of this response from the wider medical base, advances came quickly in the treatment of congenital heart disease, surgical repair of the gastrointestinal tract, and the treatment regimens necessary to deal with immune problems and the resultant infectious disease. These basic medical / treatment advances have served to dramatically increase the lifespan of people with Down's Syndrome.
Down's Syndrome Preventative Medical Checklist - 1980'sMedical care provided in a multitude of communities eventually led to the development of the "Down's Syndrome Preventative Medical Checklist" in 1981.
This special protocol checklist presents specific medical management suggestions for doctors treating people with Down's Syndrome. It's still in use today and is updated every two years with the latest findings.
The History of Down Syndrome in ConclusionIn the last century of research for people with Down's Syndrome, we've managed to go from complete mystery to awareness of the basic cause and effects of the disorder.
Historically, we've gone from seeing people with Down's Syndrome as little better than animals to full, real people whom we love and who love us back.
Instead of putting them in institutions for life, we've learned that they can be our co-workers, partners and friends.
We've learned so much in the last century, and we look forward to a future that grows ever brighter.
Wow! If you made it this far...thank you. Fortunately, for the children who are lucky enough to be born here in the USA, they are either taken home by their birth parents or given up for adoption. Sadly, the abortion rate of prenatally diagnosed Down syndrome is about 90%. That is HUGE and it is even sadder that there is a waiting list here in the USA for adoption of kiddos with Down syndrome. If only those mothers/parents would choose LIFE and allow another family to raise and love that gift. Unfortunately, for the children born with Ds in other countries, the VAST majority are left at the hospital and then put into an orphanage and then later transferred to a mental institution, if not adopted, where most will die within one year of entering it. Another "fortunately" over in Eastern Europe, particularly parts of Ukraine there have been some great advances in that they've started support groups and teaching centers to educate parents on how raising a child with Down syndrome is very do-able. Hopefully there will be less children entering orphanages there one day soon.
Ok...I better stop here as I could go on and on.
