World over, March 21st is celebrated as World Down Syndrome Day, to focus attention on the chromosomal disease, in which the patients are known to have an extra set of chromosome. It continues to be the commonest chromosomal disorder, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, afflicts nearly 6000 babies every year. Life for a person with Down syndrome is not easy as they are incapacitated by physical disabilities. To create awareness around Down syndrome and to get people to talk about the condition, the theme for this year’s Down Syndrome Day is #LotsOfSocks.

The official site of World Down Syndrome Day says, “Let's get people talking about WDSD on 21 March 2018! How? By wearing #LotsOfSocks! But not just any socks...wear our official #LotsOfSocks socks, other brightly coloured socks, long socks, printed socks, 1 sock… even 3 socks for 3 chromosomes.” The idea is to wear lots of socks – crazy, mismatched or brightly coloured ones that are bound to catch people’s attention, leading to a conversation about the disease.

In case you are wondering, “Why socks?” chromosomes, a thread-like structure inside living cells that carry genetic information, are shaped like socks and people with Down syndrome have an extra set of chromosomes. The rationale behind wearing three socks is to focus attention on ‘Trisomy 21’ or three chromosomes seen in Down syndrome patients in place of the matched pair of chromosomes.

A magnified image of sock-shaped chromosomes. (Picture credit: Wikimedia Commons)

World Down Syndrome day is celebrated world over not only to focus attention on the severity of the disease, but also to create acceptance for sufferers who often discriminated against for their appearance. There is a pressing need to create awareness about Down syndrome in India because the risk factors for birth defects here are one too many: universality of marriage, high fertility, unplanned pregnancies, poor coverage of post childbirth care, poor maternal nutrition and large number of marriage between blood relatives like cousins. If someone close to you has Down syndrome or if you wish to spread awareness about the disease, wear brightly-coloured socks to work today and start a conversation about the disease.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 21, 2018 10:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).