The use of drugs to modulate stress responses reduces the time of intensive care needed by Down children to recover after open-heart surgery

The time that 10 Down children, all pre-treated with individualized drug therapies, spent in intensive care after undergoing open-heart surgery was compared to the time taken by 22 Down children operated on before such treatment.The therapies are mainly antistress but also aim at compensating for probable deficits of physiological substances.
Compared to the control group, the index group spent average 74.11 hour less, with 99% CI from 66.44 to 87.74 hours; "t" = 3.30 with 30 df and p < .01 The results, of wide spread interest, require further investigation as it is possible to establish beyond doubt whether the two samples are random.

Does S-Adenosil-L-Methionine (SAMe) Decrease Articular Laxity in Down Children? Preliminary report

Since 1986 Down subjects treated by drug therapy were also given oral S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAMe) because a decreased new synthesis of this physiological compound by trisomy 21 carriers. One observed effects has been the reduction of the articular laxity, when this symptom is present. This preliminary report deals with the biochemical feasibility of such a result.

Birth — The Second Breakpoint in the Down Subject's Biological Balance: Confirmation and Implications

In the biological history of a Down subject, apart from the critical moment of conception as the starting point for an organism affected by an extra chromosome 21, birth may be an event that can heavily influence many negative biological developments.
An excess of compensatory glutathione peroxidase, alveolar pulmonary degeneration, myelination reduction, the greater risk of being affected by cerebral palsy, and accelerated reduction in visual cortex cells, all find their beginnings following birth. Four out of five of these events were certainly not present in the foetal stage.
The most probable hypothesis is that the maternal organism, in various ways, protects the Down foetus from the excess stress and can maintain compensated, at least in part, the homeostasis disturbed by 50% acceleration of all the metabolisms whose enzymes have control genes in chromosome 21.
If this were indeed the case, it would be therefore necessary to carry out compensatory therapy from the very first days of life.

Childhood psychoses: Results of drug treatment with Down and non-Down subjects

Compared, after 3-94 mo of individualized drug therapy, the results of 44 psychotic children with Down's syndrome and 29 psychotic non-Down's children. One Down's child and 4 non-Down's children definitely came out of their psychoses, and the results were directly related to the length of the drug therapy. Therapy lasted at least 3 yrs in 1 of the cases and 5 yrs in 3 cases. Findings support the hypothesis that child psychosis can be treated as a stress response therapy that can be improved through the use of drugs.

Profound mental retardation with psychotic traits: Intervention methods

Studied the effectiveness of combined psychopedagogic and pharmacologic treatments. Human Ss: Five male and female Italian adolescents and adults (aged 13-22 yrs) (Down's syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, neonatal encephalopathy, lipoidosis, and psychotic traits). Global intervention was administered. Individualized treatment was administered using relational and psychodynamic methods. Psychotherapy was administered rarely. Play, occupational, didactic, and social activities were taught in small peer groups. Ss' behavior was assessed by a multidisciplinary team.

Direct precursors of glutamic acid and GABA and dietary habits in Down's syndrome: An epidemiologic study of 460 Ss.

Studied: (1) dietary habits related to intake of sweet foods and meat or stock broth (foods rich in glucose, glutamic acid, and glutamine) and (2) dietary effects on brain neurotransmitters. Human Ss: 460 male and female Italian infants, preschool and school-age children, adolescents, and adults (aged 3 mo to 42.5 yrs) (Down's syndrome). Dietary habits were rated with a 5-point scale, with 1 representing absolute refusal and 5 representing active search for the studied food.

Disappearance of spontaneous nystagmus in 3 encephalopathic children receiving drug therapy

Reports the cases of 3 children (aged 1 yr, 4.5 yrs, and 8 yrs, respectively) with double hemiplegia, hemiparesis, and mental retardation, respectively, following prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal insults, who presented with spontaneous horizontal nystagmus and convergent squint. Spontaneous nystagmus disappeared and squint was reduced greatly following combination drug treatment lasting 13, 4, and 20 mo, respectively (e.g., glutamine, diazepam or bromazepam, pyridoxine, and biotin). It is maintained that these cases confirm in non-Down's syndrome children what was reported in Down's syndrome children (Cocchi and R. Branchesi, 1989).

Postnatal cerebral palsy in Down's syndrome children: Three cases

In a not selected consecutive series of 470 Down syndrome subjects coming from all the Italian regions, only three of them presented CP, but its origin was solely postnatal. Nevertheless, the occurrence of CP following pre-, peri- and neonatal insults cannot be rejected. Nevertheless, the present epidemiological data seem to support the hypothesis that Down Ss are more protected during the foetal age, at birth and in the first days of life from the paralytic outcomes of anoxic damages.