A calendar date that defines an anomaly at birth

We all have 23 pairs of chromosomes in all the cells of our body. However, some special children are born with an extra one. Those who have one additional 21st Chromosome (three instead of usual two) have Down’s Syndrome. About nineteen years ago, 21st day of March (or 3/21) was selected as a World Down Syndrome day. Five years later in 2012, UN General Assembly adopted this date, to raise awareness about Down’s Syndrome. This unique anomaly hence has a date on the calendar, that defines it.

Congenital anomaly which we know as Down’s syndrome has existed for centuries. In 1866, a British doctor John Langdon Down named it “Mongolism” in quite a condescending way. His hypothesis was that conditions can be named after races, by how individuals with them may look like. This name was also borne out of perceptions of racial superiority, as individuals with this condition have a marked intellectual disability. It was in 1959, that Jerome Lejeune a French Geneticist discovered its cause – An additional 21st chromosome.

With an extra Chromosome, the condition was now called “Trisomy 21”. However the name “Mongolism” was still there in medical texts. In 1965 a a delegation from the Mongolian People’s Republic appealed to the WHO for a name-change. It was then that the condition was renamed “Down’s Syndrome”. An insulting name, was hence replaced, and was now named after a person who described the condition, and was a perpetrator of its racial slur – Dr JL Down.

Individuals with this anomaly have various effects on their organ systems. Other than facial features and intellectual disability, they may have defects in their heart, muscles, endocrine organs, and immune system. Since it manifests at the time of conception, screening tests are used in mothers for its early detection. Older the mother, greater is the risk for this condition.

Down’s Syndrome advocacy, uses various symbols. Butterfly is on of them. Butterflies are beautiful, transformative, and have lots of energy. Recently, I got a butterfly calendar as a gift, and hence went back to my collection for a “butterfly-in-health” stamp. Other popular symbols of Down’s syndrome advocacy are “mismatched pair of socks” usually one blue and one yellow. Every year on 21st March, we all come together to think about individuals with three copies of Chromosome 21.