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Down's Syndrome, Dementia, and Superoxide Dismutase

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. J. Dickinson  and
I. Singh
M. J. Dickinson*
Affiliation:
Pyschiatry of Mental Handicap, Leavesden Hospital, Abbots Langley, Herts WD5 0NU
I. Singh
Affiliation:
Psychiatry of Mental Handicap, Leavesden Hospital, Abbots Langley, Herts WD5 0NU, and Hillingdon Hospital, Field Heath Road, Hillingdon
*
∗Correspondence
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Extract

Mental handicap includes specific behavioural phenotypes apparently caused by single enzyme errors or deletions, for example, compulsive self-mutilation and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase deficiency in the Lesch-Nyham syndrome. In Down's syndrome, the possession of additional genetic material is found to be linked to various physical abnormalities (premature cataract formation and hypothyroidism). These close associations between types of behaviour, illnesses, and known genetic abnormalities offer promising avenues for research. In this article we concentrate on the well known link between Down's syndrome and presenile dementia.

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The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 162 , Issue 6 , June 1993 , pp. 811 - 817
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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