What are chromosome abnormalities?
A developing embryo should have 23 pairs of chromosomes, or 46 in total. Chromosomes are said to be “abnormal” when there are more or less than 46, or the structure of at least one chromosome is broken or rearranged. These abnormalities can result in pregnancy loss or birth defects. Research is underfunded The National Institutes of Health tracks spending on over 200 conditions deemed significant to public health. Miscarriage is not among the 200+ conditions deemed significant enough to track. The NIH allocates too few dollars toward research to prevent miscarriage. In 2004, only $9.1 million was spent on research to prevent miscarriage and stillbirth, making pregnancy loss among of the lowest funded conditions.
Chromosomes are the structures which carry genes. If genes are the words of a book which the genetic code reads to make a baby develop, then chromosomes could be thought of as chapters. There are always two copies of the chromosomes, or two of the same chapter. Sometimes, and more often with increasing maternal age, chapters in the book can triple [also known as Trisomy] instead of double, and this can lead to syndromes such as Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18 [Edward’s Syndrome] and Trisomy 21 [Down Syndrome].
