Autism is a type of brain disorder that affects the way individuals understand and hence, react with the world about them. Because of this, these people tend to act differently to others. On encountering an autistic child, someone would be hard-pressed to distinguish between the child and other “healthy” children around them. As there are no obvious external clues that visually tell us a child or person is autistic, these individuals are often mistakenly identified as naughty (in children) or rude.

Most autistic people have an exceptionally hard time trying to convey what they want to say or require, and others may end up saying the same things over and over again. This difficulty in understanding causes great confusion among the autistic, and although they can hear everything that is said to them, they cannot grasp the gist of what is being said.

Autism In Children

Mood swings are another symptom of autism. A person may be fine one moment but will have a mood change in a flash. This often happens because they can’t explain to people properly what they want. There are simple things that can trigger the mood swings as well. Anything from using the wrong dish for a meal to parking in the wrong spot can cause the person to change.

Autism is classed as a “spectrum disorder” which basically means the symptoms and characteristics of the condition are never the same in any two people. One thing that is common to all autism sufferers though is that they all have a hard time making sense of the world around them.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder otherwise known as trisomy and it is where an individual has inherited an additional or extra copy of a particular chromosome. In the case of Down’s syndrome, the affected individuals have three copies rather than two of chromosome 21. The consequence of this additional copy is that it changes the balance of the body resulting in characteristic intellectual and physical features.

Down Syndrome

There are three kinds of Down’s syndrome: regular trisomy 21 which is where all the cells in the body have an extra chromosome 21 and is the most common type of the condition with nearly 94% affected with Down’s having it; translocation, which is where extra chromosome 21 material attaches to another chromosome, and four percent have this type; and mosaic, which is where only some of the cells have additional chromosome 21. This usually has milder features than the other two types and only two percent of affected individuals have mosaic.

Down syndrome sufferers look different to normal people and usually have a flat type of facial profile with eyes slanting upwards. Smaller ears, protruding tongue and a flat back of the head are other features. Individuals affected tend to be shorter than normal, have poor muscle tone and have broad, short hands. Half the affected individuals have a heart defect, which can be treated in some, but not others. Some have problems with their gut, making it difficult to eat while increasing the risk of constipation and thyroid problems.

There is no cure for Down syndrome but there are treatments available for the accompanying symptoms as well as support for the learning difficulties.

Blood pressure is described as the pressure the force of blood applies to the artery walls as it flows through them. It is the pumping action of the heart that causes the blood to be under pressure. Normal blood pressure is an essential function in the workings of the body. Blood pressure is denoted by two numbers, 120/80 being an example (which happens to be considered an average blood pressure reading, by the way), with the first number being the systolic blood pressure, or the pressure when the heart is contracted while pumping the blood, and the second number is the diastolic blood pressure reading which is when the heart is at rest while filling with blood.

Naturally low pressure (usually thought of as lower than 90/60) doesn’t indicate any problems health wise. It could be normal for some people and indeed beneficial as it can lower incidences of stoke and coronary heart disease. It only becomes a problem if it is accompanied by symptoms such as fainting. This is normally caused by an underlying problem which would indicate that the blood pressure is not being regulated properly.

What to do in the case of Low Blood Pressure

If someone has constantly low blood pressure, then this could be classed as normal, however, if they have postural hypotension (blood pressure drops when standing up from a sitting position) or postprandial hypotension (blood pressure drops after eating), could mean there are underlying health problems. These could be taking drugs that are used to treat high blood pressure, illnesses that cause blood loss, diabetes, Addison’s disease (an adrenal gland disease), and early stages of pregnancy.

Treatment of low blood pressure normally depends on the underlying cause of the problem.