What mental problem is this?

Question

So my 6 year old cousin has some mental problem. I know what it's called in Arabic (his parents only speak Arabic) but when I tried searching up the translation I got the name of an ethnicity .. so I'm confused.
Here's some features:
-always sticks tongue out
-eyes are odd
-big mouth
-doesn't have veins on palms of hands(or they at least don't show)
-chubby/fat (another person with the same condition is obese. I don't know if that's just a coincidence or it has to do with their condition).
-barely talks. Talks randomly (barely says real words)
-once he hit me on the back of my head with a hard bottle 
-hits people for the smallest reasons 
-wants to steal people's food 
-did not get potty trained until about 4 (I think)
-runs out of the house 
-sits in the middle of the street 
-really strong 
-goes to a school for people of his condition 
When he was born, the doctor found out about his condition just by looking at his palms and noticing there were no veins.
I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I'm just curious and want to look up his condition to learn about it. He's a sweet kid and he ran out of his house once and his mom lost him just so he can come to me, lol. (We were neighbors when I visited my home country).

Thanks !

Belliger · Accepted Answer

Hello,

Thank you for the question.  I think this diagnosis on looking at his palms, probably means that he has a. "single palmar crease."  I don't think it's anything to do with the veins, -  you're not supposed to have veins on your palms.

If you look at your own palms, you should see two big creases that run from side to side.  If you were telling someone's fortune by Palm-reading, (called "Palmistry"), - you would call these two lines the "heart line" and the "head line."

It is abnormal for these two lines to be joined up.  A single crease-line is wrong, - you should have two of them.

Here is a Palmistry reference (click and return), http://depositphotos.com/5690095/stock-illustration-palmistry-map.html

Here is a reference showing a single palm crease, http://www.humanhand.com/simian.html

Here is a baby with it. It is also called a "simian crease," http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17226.htm

The disease is called "Down's Syndrome."  It used to be called "mongolism," but that term is not used now.  They do have a big tongue, as you say, which means they tend to stick it out a lot.

The eyes are unusual in that they have the same little web of skin on the inner side of each eye, that Asian children often do.

The condition is due to having an extra number-21 chromosome.  It is hereditary but usually neither of the parents has it, - it is a fresh mutation.

They can be quite clever children, and always sweet.  But sometimes they are not so clever, and it sounds like your little cousin takes a long time to learn things.

They can often be born with some heart trouble too, - I don't know if your cousin has this.

I hope this is of some help.

Best wishes,

Belliger
retired uk GP

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What mental problem is this?

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