This bit is for anyone that wants to know about Turners Syndrome. Not a lot of people know about TS, so I’m going to try to explain in brief and without all the technical terms what it is and what its like to have TS. I would like to start by saying TS is not a disease and it is not hereditary. I would first like to get rid of one of the long-term myths that has been closely associated with TS for years. It has been believed by people for years that TS girls are in a way “mentally retarded” or hard of learning. This, in quite a few cases, has lead to many TS girls being aborted, having been told the facts by doctors who don’t fully understand themselves what Turners is about. I can very definitely say that, knowing a few TS girls myself, we are certainly not hard of learning. There are many TS girls I know that are grade A students or in top sets at school. There can be a few cases of TS girls being hard of learning, but not each and every one of us are. It will depend on the extremity of Turners they have, as it can affect some of us more than others. I hope that has cleared that myth a bit, and means less TS girls are aborted. In many cases, the problem is that there is not enough awareness of Turners which can lead to facts given out being wrong. Due to the facts being wrong, and the fact it is called a syndrome, people sometimes associate it with something totally different than it actually is. At the end of the day, you never know how or in what way a Turners girl has been affected until you actually meet them. The best way is to get in contact with the parents, or a Turners girl themselves, to find out what it is like to live with, or be a Turners girl. Turners Syndrome affects only girls and basically is a growth hormone deficiency; anyone that has it can’t grow properly and has to have a daily growth hormone injection to help them grow as close to normal as possible. Here is a list of symptoms of TS. Girls with TS can have any of these symptoms but not necessarily all of them.
- Puffy hands and feet
- Webbed neck (which is a larger than normal size neck)
- Broad chest
- Low hairline
- Increased carrying angle of the elbows and other features
- Droopy eyelids
- Spoon shaped, small or square nails
- Short fourth toe and short fingers
- High roof of the mouth
- Hearing problems
- Short sightedness
- Moles
- High blood pressure
- Kidney and urinary problems
- Thyroid problems
- Small lower jaw
- Diabetes
- Coeliacs
- Behavioral problems and
- Learning difficulties
- Occasionally infertility