atrophy, cataracts, loss of fat in the face, and osteoporosis. COFS syndrome can be further subdivided into several conditions (COFS types 1, 2, 3 (associated with xeroderma pigmentosum) and 4). Typically patients with this early-onset form of the disorder show more severe brain damage, including reduced myelination of white matter, and more widespread calcifications, including in the cortex and basal ganglia. CS Type III, characterized by late-onset, is typically milder than Types I and II. Often patients with Type III will live into adulthood. Xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne syndrome (XP-CS) occurs when an individual also has xeroderma pigmentosum, another DNA repair disease. Some symptoms of each disease are expressed. For instance, freckling and pigment abnormalities characteristic of XP are present. The neurological disorder, spasticity, and underdevelopment of sexual organs characteristic of CS are seen. However, hypomyelination and the facial features of typical CS patients are not present. Causes If hyperoxia or excess oxygen occurs in the body, the cellular metabolism produces several highly reactive forms of oxygen called free radicals. This can cause oxidative damage to cellular components including the DNA. In normal cells, our body repairs the damaged sections. In the case of this disease, due to subtle defects in transcription, children's genetic machinery for synthesizing proteins needed by the body does not operate at normal capacity. That is, scientists believed that these children's genetic machinery for synthesizing proteins needed by the body does not operate at normal capacity. Over time, went this theory, results in developmental failure and death. Every minute, the body pumps 10 to 20 liters of oxygen through the blood, carrying it to billions of cells in our bodies. In its normal molecular form, oxygen is harmless. However, cellular metabolism involving oxygen can generate several highly reactive free radicals. These free radicals can cause oxidative damage to cellular components including the DNA. In an average human cell, several thousand lesions occur in the DNA every day. Many of these lesions result from oxidative damage. Each lesion—a damaged section of DNA—must be snipped out and the DNA repaired to preserve its normal function. Unrepaired DNA can lose its ability to code for proteins. Mutations also can result. These mutations can activate oncogenes or silence tumor suppressor genes. According to research, oxidative damage to active genes is not preferentially repaired, and in the most severe cases, the repair is slowed throughout the whole genome. The resulting accumulation of oxidative