Dandy Walker Syndrome

Dandy Walker syndrome, Down syndrome, and their differences

Rachel Pollay

University of Phoenix

August 19th, 2012

Dandy Walker syndrome, Down syndrome, and their differences

Throughout the years for many people Dandy Walker syndrome and Down syndrome have come into their lives. Dandy Walker syndrome has I case per 25,000-35,000 live births ("Kids Health", 2012) and Down syndrome affects 1 in every 800 babies born in the United States ("Fact Sheet Dandy Walker Syndrome", 2005). Dandy Walker syndrome is different from Down syndrome, just because they both affect the brain does not make them the same, each syndrome affects the brain in different ways.

These syndromes are Dandy Walker syndrome which is a brain malformation involving the cerebellum ("Fact Sheet Dandy Walker Syndrome", 2005). This specific syndrome affects the brain differently in each person, it has an extreme rang of severity ("Fact Sheet Dandy Walker Syndrome", 2005), meaning that because it is different in each person, one could have it a lot worse than another person. Down syndrome as well affects the brain as you read about, but this syndrome is an error in the cell division which happens at the moment of conception for reasons no one knows ("Down Syndrome Research And Treatment Foundation", 2012), which is found in about 1 in every 800 babies in the United States("Kids Health", 2012). There is not as much severity in Down syndrome as there is in Dandy Walker syndrome. Meaning that Down syndrome is only an error in cell division, whereas Dandy Walker syndrome is not, so it causes the brain to be hit less hard in Down syndrome than in Dandy Walker syndrome.

What makes Dandy Walker syndrome and Down syndrome different is with Dandy Walker syndrome it is usually spotted between the ages of 3 and 4 ("Fact Sheet Dandy Walker Syndrome", 2005). There are times where it can be found in a baby at the age of one, as well as you can start to for symptoms as an adult. When found in early...