Blood tests detect Down

A new blood test that enables pregnant women to check for signs of Down's syndrome in their unborn children can enter into wide practice in the coming years. Scientists believe that it can be saved thousands of lives.

Currently, tens of thousands of women who have a high risk of having a child with Down syndrome , Are faced with a difficult choice. They offer an invasive test to pass, after that 1 in every 100 miscarriage occurs. Thus, many thousands of children die, most of them do not have Down syndrome.

British scientists have developed a new blood test, and clinical trials involving 2049 women showed its high efficiency. This analysis recognizes Down's syndrome   in 99% of cases, it has no dangerous side effects such as non-invasive, and it is suitable for mass application.

"This is a very accurate test that is suitable for all pregnant women, - says Professor King's College London Quiros Nicolaides. - It can be used and those not included in the risk group in connection with the threat of having a baby with Down syndrome. I expect that British public hospitals, he will appear in the next five years. "

Currently, most hospitals use to diagnose Down syndrome complicated process consists of two stages. The first is determined by the degree of risk of this genetic disorder with ultrasound for 12 weeks. On average, 527 women out of every 10,000 fall into the high risk group, and are encouraged to go through the second stage, which is invasive. This 1% of women suffer miscarriages later, although 10 000 pregnant only 30 in reality really discover Down syndrome in the fetus.

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