Overview
- Klinefelter Syndrome, also called 47, XXY or XXY. It is not genetically passed down from your parents, however it is caused by nondisjunction; when a pair of sex chromosomes fail to separate during egg or sperm formation. Then the embryo will have 2 X chromosomes instead of one.
-Only 10% of the time does nondisjunction occur during embryonic development and only sometimes does a baby's cells receive an extra X chromosome. The chromosomes that are affected are the sex linked XY chromosomes.
-Klinefelter Syndrome does not affect females, only males.
- There is no ethnic group that is affected all groups are equally able to commonly get this syndrome.
SYMPTOMS
-Some symptoms are : lower levels of hormone testosterone, inability to make sperm, less muscular bodies, more belly fat, wider hips, narrower shoulders, low growth of facial and body hair, small testes, and enlarged breasts. Also other symptoms include ADHD, delayed puberty, osteoporosis, infertility, and reduced sex drive.
Long Term Effects
Klinefelter's Syndrome has a huge impact to males who fall victim to this literal life changing disease. One impact is that the disease can leave them in confusion of their sexual orientation. Male children with the disease tend to have characteristics of shyness, reserved, sensitive and passive.Male children and teens will have trouble emotionally with self esteem as they can be teased for their physical appearance. Children can have cognitive, speech, learning and behavioral difficulties that can or cannot be detected. Due to this fact teens and children will need counseling and emotional support. As male adults not much is known about how much of a life impact the disease has however it is certain that they cannot have biological children. This can create unstable relationships as they cannot have children with their partners.
Treatments
-They can be given the hormones testosterone or estrogen, have surgery to remove breast tissue, or receive emotional and physical counseling.
-You can create more muscle so your appearance will look more masculine, eliminating anxiety and depression.
-There are currently no cures for Klinefelter Syndrome.
Sources
-http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/klinefelter-syndrome
- http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/chromosomal/klinefelter/
-http://www.webmd.com/men/tc/klinefelter-syndrome-topic-overview
-http://www.nature.com/gim/journal/v13/n7/full/gim92011103a.html
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1052467/
- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-59259-727-7_9