From a very young age, a child with Down’s syndrome has characteristic physical features:

• A “flattened” profile.
• Slanting eyes.
• An epicanthus (= skin folds above the upper eyelid).
• A flat nasal bridge.
• Hypertrophy and protrusion of the tongue (the tongue is abnormally advanced forward).
• A small head and small ears.
• A short neck.
• A single crease in the palms of the hand, called a single transverse palmar crease.
• A smallness of the limbs and the trunk.
• Muscle hypotonia (= all muscles are soft) and abnormally flexible joints (= hyperlaxity).
• Slow growing and generally smaller in height than children of the same age.
• In babies, delayed learning such as turning, sitting and crawling due to poor muscle tone. This learning is generally done at double the age of children without Down’s syndrome.
• Mild to moderate mental retardation.

Complications

Children with Down’s syndrome sometimes suffer from certain specific complications:

• Heart defects. According to the Canadian Down Syndrome Society (SCSD), more than 40% of children with the syndrome have a congenital heart defect present from birth.
• A occlusion (or blocking) in the case of requiring surgery. It affects around 10% of newborns with Down’s syndrome.
• A hearing loss.
• A susceptibility to infections like for example pneumonia, due to a decrease in immunity.
• An increased risk of hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone), leukemia or seizures.
• Un language delay, sometimes aggravated by hearing loss.
• benefits eye and vision problems (cataracts, strabismus, myopia or hyperopia are more common).
• An increased risk of sleep apnea.
• A tendency to obesity.
• In affected men, sterility. Pregnancy is however possible in most women.
• Adults with the disease are also more prone to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.