Down syndrome screening results are unreliable for men and women

Recently, the rumor that \”Tang Si Report can tell whether you are male or female\” has been circulating on the Internet. Many netizens \”checked seats\” and said that this method is very accurate. The specific test method is: look at the two values ​​​​in the Tang Si report – HCG MOM value and AFP MOM value. The lower the HCG MOM value (0.4) and the higher the AFP MOM value (1), the more likely it is a boy; The higher the MOM value of HCG (0.8) and the lower the MOM value of AFP (1), the more likely it is a girl.

Down syndrome screening results are unreliable for both men and women

Is it real? Can Tang Si really tell the difference between men and women?

To this end, the editor of 39 Health Network conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Zhang Guanglan, deputy chief physician of the Obstetrics Department of Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center. Director Zhang and his colleagues who specialize in Down syndrome screening in the hospital studied more than 1,000 recent medical records and found that the claim that Down syndrome can tell the gender of the fetus has no scientific basis and data to support the screening report.

Down syndrome is a common chromosomal disorder in humans. Since children with Down syndrome have severe mental retardation and some are even unable to take care of themselves, almost all developed countries screen pregnant women for Down syndrome in order to achieve the purpose of eugenics and nurturing. The goal. Therefore, Down syndrome screening only detects risk factors for Down syndrome, and its results have nothing to do with the gender of the fetus. HCG is a test of maternal serum, not a test of the fetus; AFP (serum alpha-fetoprotein) is a special protein produced by fetal liver cells. Under normal circumstances, adults do not secrete it, so AFP is used to measure whether the baby\’s development is normal. index. Theoretically, these two indicators are not directly related to the gender of the baby. After studying more than 1,000 records of the hospital\’s recent Down syndrome screening reports, we also found that these values ​​have little to do with the baby\’s gender. On the contrary, many AFPs have a MOM value of 1, but are actually boys.

The editor reminds: There are only male and female human genders. No matter what method is used to predict, the accuracy is 50%. This creates the illusion that some methods are accurate. As for the 100% accurate method, currently there is only B-ultrasound, but our country has banned non-medical fetal gender identification during pregnancy, so expectant mothers should not be too obsessed with the gender of the baby. You can hope to relax and prepare the supplies to take care of the baby. A good expectant mother\’s body is the focus of her life.

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