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The Human Body has 46 total chromosomes, 23 from each parents. If the 18th Chomosome doesn't seperate correctly, it results in a rare disease called Edward's Syndrome. This disease is also known as Trisomy 18. The Chance of getting this disease is 1 in every 7000 births. The risk is higher for women, the percent is 80. The chance of having a baby with this disease increases as the woman gets older. However women at any age can have a baby with it. This disease can affect any ethnic group and is so fatal tha 90% of babies that have it dies before birth. if a baby would survive birth, it would only survive in life for a couple days. Edwards can be detected prenatally by ultrasound. However that is not 100% correct. It just tells you that your baby has a chance of getting Edward's Syndrome. The accurate way to test is by either Chorionic or Amniocentesis. This disease is not inherited. It is caused by nondisjunction of the 18th chromosome. That means that during cell division the 28th Chromosme didn't separate correctly. One thing that is special about this disease is that a baby can overcome things that a healthy baby can't. There is no cure for the disease yet. The only way to deal with it is to deal with the symptoms. For some people that is going to be hard. The list of symptoms might help youunderstand why. However there are support groups to also help. Here are a few- > Symptoms
 * The trisomy 18 Foundation
 * Rainbows Down Under
 * S.O.F.T.
 * Trisomy Online.org
 * Nervous system and brain - mental problems and delayed development ( everybody ), high muscle tone, seizures
 * Head - small head and small eyes, wide-set eyes, epicanthal folds, small lower jaw
 * Heart - congenital heart defects (90% of individuals) valve defects
 * Bones - severe growth retardation, clenched hands with 2nd and 5th fingers on top of the others, and other defects of the hands and feet
 * Malformations of the digestive tract, the urinary tract, and genitals

Support groups
 * dailystrength.org/c/Trisomy-18-Edwards-Syndrome/support-group
 * health.allrefer.com/health/trisomy-18-support.html
 * organizedwisdom.com/Edwards_Syndrome_Support_Groups
 * miscarriage.about.com/od/onetimemiscarriages/p/trisomy18.htm

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http://www.specialchild.com/archives/dz-038.html http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=trisomy18 http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/chromosome18/a/050104.htm []