Thursday, April 12, 2012

Klinefelter's Syndrome

This symptom is characterized by three sex chromosomes instead of two. The chromosomal makeup will be XXY, and the Klinefelter's Syndrome is also known as XXY Syndrome. Since there is still a Y chromosome the person will be a male, just with an extra X. There aren't many physical signs of this disease, and if there are any they don't normally occur until puberty. Some symptoms are a less muscular body, less facial hair, less body hair, broader hips, larger breasts, and weaker bones. Another physical symptom is most will be taller than the average male. I think the worst symptom of this symptom is infertility. Most of the symptoms of Klinefelter's results from a smaller amount of testosterone being produced by the body. Here is a karyotype of a person with Klinefelter's Syndrome:

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter's_syndrome

This syndrome happens to about 1 in 500 to 1 in 1000 male births. While it is irreversible, treatment options are testosterone treatments. Some men also have cosmetic surgery to reduce their breast size.

How do you think an extra chromosome ends up in the cell? Can you think of any other diseases where there is an extra chromosome?

4 comments:

Miss H said...

Aww I hate it when conditions make people infertile :(

Empty Nester said...

Oh goodness, you and your questions! Like I know anything at all about diseases where extra chromosomes are involved...LOL How do the extra chromosomes end up in the cell, BTW?

Gossip_Grl said...

that was very interesting info. My guess would be both parents are carriers for this. It definately gives something to think about

Anonymous said...

Maybe this would explain my third eye.