[tri-med] FYI - Community Living Leads To Longer, Better Life For Those With Down Syndrome

Community Living Leads To Longer, Better Life For Those With Down Syndrome
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 21, 2002

ATLANTA, GEORGIA--In 1982 a person with Down syndrome in the United States
could expect to live to an average age of 25. By 1997, the average life span
had nearly doubled to age 49, new research shows.

The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied information from
17,900 death certificates of people with Down syndrome dated from 1983 to
1997. The results are published in the March 23 edition of the British
medical journal Lancet.

The researchers also found that people with Down syndrome had higher than
average rates of leukemia and testicular cancer, but remarkably lower rates
of the more common cancers that affect individuals who do not have Down
syndrome.

Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a researcher with the CDC, said people with Down
syndrome may have a gene that suppresses certain cancers. "(Also), they
don't smoke and drink and they aren't exposed to a large number of
environmental factors that cause cancer," she told United Press
International.

The emphasis on community living has also lead to improved quality of life
and longer life, because people living in the community usually eat better
and receive more attention than in institutions, the researchers concluded.

"Today, most children with Down syndrome live with their families ... those
are healthier situations for them than living in an institution," Rasmussen
said.

"It's not just (about) longevity, but for how well they do in terms of
quality of life, and in their daily living and in their work," said Dr.
Priya Kishnani, an assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the
Down syndrome center at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

"You know some of those things were never available to individuals in the
past."

Rasmussen's team also found "significant racial disparities" between white
people with Down syndrome and those from other races, although the study
notes that the gap began to close in 1992. The researchers are currently
looking into the causes for these racial differences in life span.
---
Forwarded to this list by:
Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review
Disability Rights Email News Service
News@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.InclusionDaily.com

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