sábado, 29 de abril de 2017

BioEdge: Counting Down syndrome Americans

BioEdge: Counting Down syndrome Americans

Saturday, April 29, 2017



Counting Down syndrome Americans
     


Down syndrome is the leading cause of intellectual disability in the United States. But how many Americans have Down syndrome? There is no clear answer to that question, as the US does not record this information systematically.

Brian Skotko, of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues have done a statistical analysis of Down syndrome Americans in the journal Genetics in Medicine and come up with some very interesting statistics.

The number has quadrupled in the last 60 years because people with DS have a much higher life expectancy.

“We estimate that the number of people with DS living in the United States has grown from 49,923 in 1950 to 206,366 in 2010, which includes 138,019 non-Hispanic whites, 27,141 non-Hispanic blacks, 32,933 Hispanics, 6,747 Asians/Pacific Islanders, and 1,527 American Indians/American Natives. Population prevalence of DS in the United States, as of 2010, was estimated at 6.7 per 10,000 inhabitants (or 1 in 1,499).”
The impact of abortion is substantial:

“In the absence of elective terminations, these predicted numbers would have been 245,981, including 167,992 NHW, 31,836 NHB, 33,620 HIS, 10,716 AS/PI, and 1,817 AI/AN. This corresponds with reductions in population prevalence related to elective terminations, which are estimated to be 19% for all people with DS, 19% for NHW, 16% for NHB, 13% for HIS, 47% for AS/PI, and 16% for AI/AN.”
The impact of abortion is even higher in the UK:

“In the United States, in 1995, there were an estimated 8% fewer people with DS than there would have been without elective terminations, and this value increased to approximately 19% in 2010. In the United Kingdom, the corresponding estimated values were 10 and 26%, respectively.”
Down syndrome people are living much longer. In the US, Down syndrome is no longer a childhood disability:

“According to our model, the mean and median age of death also increased, and even more rapidly, from an estimated 3 and 0 years, respectively, in 1950 to 12 and 2 years in 1970 to 35 and 38 years in 1990 to 48 and 54 years in 2010.”


Bioedge

Saturday, April 29, 2017

The Belgian media was abuzz this week with the news that the Catholic hospitals which provide a substantial portion of psychiatric beds will permit euthanasia for non-terminally-ill patients. It is an unprecedented reversal of their stand on end-of-life care.
Supporters of euthanasia, of course, were delighted. “The last relics of the paternalism of the shepherd have been replaced by individual self-determination," said one politician. Opponents, however, were puzzled and alarmed. Fifteen years after Belgium legalised euthanasia, it has become hard to find a hospital where is it not being practised. Read about it below. 


Michael Cook
Editor
BioEdge

NEWS THIS WEEK
 
by Michael Cook | Apr 29, 2017
From now on it will be difficult to find a psychiatric hospital where euthanasia is not offered
 
by Michael Cook | Apr 29, 2017
US researchers are close to an artificial womb for extremely premature babies
 
by Michael Cook | Apr 29, 2017
Life expectancy has risen steeply
 
by Michael Cook | Apr 29, 2017
Why should they settle for anything less than heterosexual couples?
 
by Michael Cook | Apr 29, 2017
There was no lack of ethical training in the Nazi era
 
by Paul Russell | Apr 27, 2017
Ezekiel Emanuel says that pain is not the the reason people ask doctors to end their lives
 
by Michael Cook | Apr 26, 2017
Ellinor Grimmark has had to move to Norway to find work
BioEdge
Suite 12A, Level 2 | 5 George St | North Strathfield NSW 2137 | Australia
Phone: +61 2 8005 8605
Mobile: 0422-691-615
New Media Foundation | Level 2, 5 George St | North Strathfield NSW 2137 | AUSTRALIA | +61 2 8005 8605 

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario