Question
My sister’s child is three years old this year, but we all feel that the child is not quite normal. After checking, it was found that the child has congenital mental retardation, and the doctor said it is Down syndrome. How should Down syndrome be treated?
Answer
Down syndrome is caused by a congenital chromosomal abnormality, with most patients having a mistake in the genetic splitting of the twenty-first pair of chromosomes, resulting in an extra chromosome in the cell nucleus. The treatment for Down syndrome mainly focuses on guidance, as there are currently no medications found to improve the intelligence of individuals with mental retardation. However, this condition often accompanies other diseases such as respiratory infections, gastrointestinal obstruction, congenital heart disease, and thyroid dysfunction, which can be treated or controlled.