[Update on current care guidelines: appropriate treatment of medical problems associated with Down's syndrome].

The lifetime prognosis of people with Down's syndrome has improved. Development of the services that health care and society can offer to such people is ongoing. These guidelines are targeted at defining what is required to further increase the lifespan and quality-of-life of people with Down's syndrome.

Why and how to assess the aetiological diagnosis of children with intellectual disability/mental retardation and other neurodevelopmental disorders: description of the Finnish approach.

One of the most important tasks of a physician who has patients with delayed development is to assess the cause of the problem. To help with this work, an aetiological classification based on timing and type of the injury to the central nervous system (CNS), has been created. The main divisions are: genetic causes; CNS malformations and multiple malformation syndromes of unknown origin; external prenatal factors; paranatally acquired disorders (-1 to +4 weeks from delivery); postnatally acquired disorders; and untraceable or unclassified causes.

Serum lipids and lipoproteins during therapeutic amenorrhea induced by lynestrenol and depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate.

Serum concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), apolipoprotein A1 (Apo A1), and apolipoprotein B (Apo B) were determined in mentally handicapped subjects (n = 87). 33 women were on lynestrenol 5-10 mg for therapeutic amenorrhea (TA). 18 of them were randomly allocated to continue on lynestrenol and 15 were switched to intramuscular administration of medroxyprogesterone (DMPA).

Vitamin D status of ambulatory and nonambulatory mentally retarded children with and without carbamazepine treatment.

The subjects consisted of four groups: group 1 nonambulatory patients receiving carbamazepine; group 2 ambulatory patients receiving carbamazepine; group 3 nonambulatory patients receiving no drug, and group 4 ambulatory patients receiving no drugs. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) concentration was significantly lower in group 1 than in all other groups. There was no difference between the groups as regards the serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentration.

The effect of peroral lynestrenol on serum lipids and lipoproteins in therapeutic amenorrhea of mentally retarded women.

Serum concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 (Apo A1), apolipoprotein B (Apo B), and triglyceride (TG) were measured and that of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) calculated in blood samples obtained from mentally handicapped women undergoing therapeutic amenorrhea (TA) induced by 5-10 mg of peroral lynestrenol, some receiving, some not receiving simultaneous anticonvulsant therapy (phenytoin, carbamazepine or barbiturate, alone or in combination). In addition, these analyses were carried out in women receiving only anti-convulsants and in controls (mentally handicapped women not receiving any of the above-mentioned medications). Significantly lower HDL-C, Apo A1, TG and cholesterol concentrations were measured in TA patients receiving lynestrenol only, than in those receiving anticonvulsants only, or in controls (p less than 0.

Risk of hepatitis B in a ward for mentally retarded HBsAg carriers.

A screening of 615 mentally retarded residents in a Finnish institution revealed 22 HBsAg-positive asymptomatic carriers in 1972. Thirteen of them were placed in a special ward and followed up for 12 years. Only one patient had hepatitis eight years later.

Partial trisomy 12q: clinical and cytogenetic observations.

High resolution chromosome banding showed a male infant with profound mental retardation, hypertonia and multiple congenital anomalies to have the karyotype 46,XY,-der (2),t(2;12)(q37.3;q24.13)pat.

Does carbamazepine treatment lead to a need of extra vitamin D in some mentally retarded children?

Biochemical parameters of vitamin D metabolism were measured in late winter among 40 institutionalized mentally retarded patients. Twenty of them had carbamazepine as their only antiepileptic drug, while the 20 remaining patients had no antiepileptic drugs. Serum calcium and 25-hydroxyvitamin D were significantly lower and alkaline phosphatase significantly higher in patients with than without carbamazepine.

Marker X-associated mental retardation. A study of 150 retarded males.

One hundred and fifty male patients with mental retardation of unknown origin were studied cytogenetically. Six patients (4%) were marker X-positive. All these index cases were found in a subgroup of patients with no dysmorphic features, significant neurological findings or childhood psychosis.

Nutrition survey of Finnish rural children. IV. Serum cholesterol values in relation to dietary variables.

In connection with a survey of child nutrition in Finland a study was carried out on the serum cholesterol concentration in childhood and its relationship to dietary and other variables. The material consisted of 1496 children ages 5, 9, and 13 years from 14 local districts in Finland. Total cholesterol was determined from nonfasted venous serum samples by a modification of the p-toluenesulfonic acid reaction.