- Hand Reading Mini-Course -

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Hand Diagnostics & Diseases:

medical hand reading, diseases & syndromes (Down syndrome & other trisomies)

The previous part of this course reported that the many research programs on Down's syndrome have been most successfull. But various research programs on other diseases and syndromes have resulted in other interesting insights as well.

This paragraph will firstly focuss on the 'syndrome family' of which Down's syndrome is an aspect: the so-called 'autosomal trisomies'. The next step will be a presentation on other syndromes (with a genetic malformation), which are accompagnied with hand stereotypes. And finally you will be informed about the present state of the developments in dermatoglyphic medical research.

Down's syndrome & other trisomies

The genetic material of 'trisomy syndromes' is characterized by an extra chromosome on one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes. In Down's syndrome (trisomy 21) this extra chromosome is always observed on the 21th chromosome pair: see figure A-8 on the last page. Other examples are: Edward's syndrome (trisomy 18), Patau's syndrome (trisomy 13), and Warkany's syndrome (trisomy 8).

The hands of people with a trisomy syndrome show very frequently a simian crease (about 40%). In Down's syndrome this percentage is usually a bit higher, and the highest percentage is observed in Edward's syndrome: see table B-1.

Stereotypes:	Normal	Trisomy 8	Trisomy 13	Trisomy 18	Trisomy 21
Discovered by:	-	Warkany	Patau	Edward	Down
Simian crease	1-5 %	40 %	60 %	75 %	60 %
t"	6 %	65 %	95 %	50 %	65 %
A-line: wrist	5 %	Zelfzaam	70 %	25 %	Zeldzaam
Fingerprint dermatoglyphics:	Large variation	Many arches + whorls	Many arches	Very many arches	Many ulnare loops

Table B-1: Common stereotype palmar 'trisomy features'.^1-2

Sources:

1 - Schaumann, B. & Alter, M. Dermatoglyphics in Medical Disorders. Springer-Verlag, New York., 1976.
2 - Loesch, D.L. Quantitative Dermatoglyphics: Classification, genetics, and pathology. Oxford Medical Publications, 1983.

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A brand new masterclass in scientific hand reading is also available here:

Decoding The Language of The Hand:
how to find 36 conditions with just 54 major hand signs!