How to Treat Chromosomal Abnormalities

Chromosomal abnormalities have both a genetic and environmental risk factor. While abnormalities are often hereditary traits, certain environmental factors are known to contribute to chromosomal damage. Read on to learn more about how to treat chromosomal abnormalities.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Prescription drugs (depending on condition)
• Support group
• Medical history
• Chemotherapy (depending on condition)
• Genetic testing
• Check-ups

1. Talk to your child's doctors and learn all you can about the exact type of birth defect with which your child has been diagnosed. Chromosomal abnormalities can lead a wide range of different defects, and each has unique treatment options. Down's Syndrome, Turner Syndrome and Williams Syndrome are only three of the possible conditions that can arise from chromosomal abnormalities.
2. Get regular check-ups by your doctor during pregnancy. An ultrasound is often the first opportunity to detect birth defects. If you can discover birth defects in utero, you have that much more time to learn how to treat them before the child is born.
3. Get a DNA test. Some birth defects can be detected even before an ultrasound can be performed. Only after diagnosis can effective treatment plans be created for children with birth defects. Doctors and specially trained counselors can teach parents how to care for their children with special needs and educate families on what to expect.
4. Talk to your doctor about gene therapy, stem cell transplants or other groundbreaking scientific treatments for chromosomal abnormalities. Leading academic research teams and top pharmaceutical companies are pouring vast resources into discovering new ways to treat chromosomal abnormalities and related birth defects.
5. Treat the disease caused by chromosomal abnormalities. Leukemia and other forms of cancer can be treated with chemotherapy and an assortment of pharmaceutical drugs. Most treatments today use a multi-agent approach, meaning that a cocktail of several drugs is used to treat the disease rather than a single medication.
6. Join a support group for people with chromosomal abnormalities or birth defects. Remember that effective treatment will not only address physiological problems, but must also address the psychological and emotional issues that come along with it.

Tips & Warnings

• Know your family's medical history, as well as your partner's background. If there is a history of chromosomal abnormality in the families of either biological parent, then the child is at much higher risk of being born with birth defects.
• Be aware that chromosomal abnormalities are not limited to a developing fetus. Chromosomal damage can and does happen to adults, too. Men of childbearing age should speak with their doctors about the potential for developing sex chromosome abnormalities in sperm before undergoing harsh treatments, such as chemotherapy.