The lifespan of people with Down syndrome has increased from an average of 28 years in the 1980s to 60 years today. However, research and medical care has not kept up with the large number of people with Down syndrome who are living well into adulthood. Eastern Idaho Down Syndrome Family Connect is proud to share that we are addressing this by supporting the GLOBAL Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome© that were published in the October 20, 2020 Issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Publication in JAMA underscores the quality of the Global Guideline and ensures that clinicians across the U.S. have access to this important resource.

The Global Guideline is for clinicians and addresses nine medical areas: Behavioral Health, Dementia, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Obesity, Atlantoaxial Instability, Osteoporosis, Thyroid, and Celiac Disease. It is made up of 14 recommendations and 4 statements of good practice. Some of the recommendations align with existing guidelines in individuals without Down syndrome, and two are markedly different. There were several questions associated with the recommendations that had no published research evidence, and therefore were answered based on the clinical expertise of the authors.

Eastern Idaho Down Syndrome Family Connect is grateful to GLOBAL for leading this difficult and important initiative and we encourage our families and supporters to use the Global Guideline in ensuring better health outcomes for our adults with Down syndrome.

After four years of coordination, compilation, and rigorous assessment and writing, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome© (Global Guideline) is complete and available at no cost. Please join Global and the lead authors on October 21, 2020  at 4pm MST for a free GLOBAL webinar and Q&A about the Global Guideline.

Webinar: https://www.globaldownsyndrome.org/global-webinar-series/