Person    | Male  Born 18/11/1828  Died 7/10/1896

Dr John Langdon Haydon Down

Categories: Medicine

Doctor specialising in mental illnesses who classified what is now called Down's Syndrome in 1862. We think the family used 'Langdon Down' as their surname.

Born Cornwall. Aged 18, he came to London to work for a surgeon. He was interested in a connection between ethnicity and mental health, hence the initial term 'Mongoloid' for Down's syndrome. More recently the term has been found offensive both to those with the syndrome and their families, and to the Mongol people so the term Down's Syndrome is preferred.

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Dr John Langdon Haydon Down

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Dr John Langdon Down

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