Public Health BY JOEY BERLIN


Odessa obstetrician-gynecologist Moss Hampton, MD, says physician education on Down syndrome has improved markedly in the past 30 to 40 years, and most physicians are aware of the capabilities of patients with Down syndrome.


Clearing up the myths


LAW, DSHS BROCHURE AIM TO MAKE SURE PARENTS GET THE FACTS ON DOWN SYNDROME


L


ess than 35 years ago, a diagnosis of Down syndrome was an indicator of a depressingly short life. In 1983, the average life expectancy for some- one diagnosed with the chromosomal abnormality was just 25 years,


according to the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). Today, the average life expectancy is 60 years, according to NDSS, and chil-


dren with Down syndrome are growing up to do things previous generations never thought they could do.


PHOTO BY MATT RAINWATERS


The expectations have changed,


and Odessa obstetrician-gynecologist Moss Hampton, MD, says physician education has changed along with the expectations. “What we’ve seen over the last 20


or 30 years is that with certain types of education and nurturing and main- streaming and all the things that they’re doing now with Down syn- drome people, there has been quite a significant improvement over what we were taught when we were in medi- cal school 30 or 40 years ago,” said Dr. Hampton, chair of the Texas district of the American Congress of Obste- tricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).


September 2016 TEXAS MEDICINE 35


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