20,000 children suffering from Down syndrome, says expert

RIYADH: The number of children below 17 years of age with Down syndrome in Saudi Arabia stood at 20,000, a pediatric specialist said.
Dr. Khaled Aldagam, head of the department of general pediatrics at King Fahd Medical City (KFMC), cited data released by the Arab Center for Genetic Studies which has said there was one case of Down syndrome in every 554 births in the Kingdom.
Addressing an event on the global day of Down syndrome at KFMC, Aldagam said that Down syndrome happens when a person has extra
or abnormal chromosomes; a normal person has 46 chromosomes whereas most people with Down syndrome have 47.
He said Down syndrome is a genetic disorder in which a third copy of chromosome 21 is present in cells because of abnormal cell division when the egg and sperm first meet. This will lead to genetic disorder in the body or brain development of a child, he said.
He said the global rate of Down syndrome is one case out of every 900 births. He said one of major causes of the syndrome is pregnancy at late ages and, accordingly, a first pregnancy at the age of 30 carries the ratio of one case of Down syndrome in every 900 births.
However, if a woman married over 40 years, the ratio rises to one case in every 100 births, and after 45 years the ratio jumps to one case in every 30 births, he said.