This condition was reported on as early as 1866 by the British doctor John Langdon Down. Because the special feature of the faces of those afflicted are a flat face, small eyes, with a collapsed bridge of the nose, so that "their appearance is like that of an Asian," it was christened "Mongolism."
這種病最早是在一八六六年由英國醫生唐蘭登提出研究報告，由於患者臉型特徵：臉部扁平、眼睛小、鼻樑塌陷…… 等，「貌似東方人」，因而命名為「蒙古症」（Mongolism）。