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Genetic disorders in the Arab world
British Medical Journal ^ | October 21, 2006 | Lihadh Al-Gazali, Hanan Hamamy, Shaikha Al-Arrayad

Posted on 11/24/2006 9:24:43 AM PST by AdmSmith

Available data suggest that genetic and congenital disorders are more common in Arab countries than in industrialised countries; recessively inherited disorders account for a substantial proportion of physical and mental handicap. Several factors may contribute to the high prevalence of genetically determined disorders:

High consanguinity rates 25-60% of all marriages are consanguineous, and the rate of first cousin marriages is high. In addition, isolated subpopulations with a high level of inbreeding exist. Furthermore, in many parts of the Arab world the society is still tribal. This has made the epidemiology of genetic disorders complicated, as many families and tribal groups are descended from a limited number of ancestors and some conditions are confined to specific villages, families, and tribal groups, leading to an unusual burden of genetic diseases in these communities (table B on bmj.com)

The high prevalence of haemoglobinopathies, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, autosomal recessive syndromes, and several metabolic disorders (fig A and table C on bmj.com)

The rate of children with Down's syndrome in some Arab countries exceeds the 1.2-1.7 per 1000 typical for industrialised countries. This may be related to the relatively high proportion of births to older mothers in the region (up to 50% of children with Down's syndrome in the region are estimated to be born to mothers aged 40 or over)

The lack of public health measures directed at the prevention of congenital and genetic disorders, with inadequate health care before and during pregnancy, particularly in low income countries

Services for the prevention and control of genetic disorders are restricted by certain cultural, legal, and religious limitations, such as the cultural fear of families with genetic diseases being stigmatised within their community and the legal restrictions on selective termination of pregnancy of an affected fetus.

(Excerpt) Read more at bmj.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Israel; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: arab; cousinmarriages; genetics; inbreeding; marriage; palestinianauthority; religionofpieces; whatasurprise
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1 posted on 11/24/2006 9:24:44 AM PST by AdmSmith
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To: AdmSmith

One word: Incest.


2 posted on 11/24/2006 9:28:58 AM PST by SolidWood
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To: AdmSmith

Too Funny, but we knew this from their behaviour.


3 posted on 11/24/2006 9:29:25 AM PST by stockpirate (John Kerry & FBI files ==> http://www.freerepublic.com/~stockpirate/)
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To: AdmSmith
Several factors may contribute to the high prevalence of genetically determined disorders

Like slavish adherence to a make-believe moon god and his child-rapist messenger perhaps?
4 posted on 11/24/2006 9:30:55 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Stop global warming - tell a liberal to shut up)
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To: SolidWood
We need a pic of that banjo playin' kid in "Deliverance".
5 posted on 11/24/2006 9:30:57 AM PST by widowithfoursons
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To: AdmSmith


Average rates of marriages between first cousins among Arabs. UAE=United Arab Emirates
6 posted on 11/24/2006 9:31:51 AM PST by AdmSmith
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To: AdmSmith

Inbreeding


7 posted on 11/24/2006 9:31:59 AM PST by Cinnamon
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To: AdmSmith
Inbreeding brought about the demise of the Egyptians. Of course other factors were involved too.
8 posted on 11/24/2006 9:33:01 AM PST by skimask (People who care what you do don't matter.......People who matter don't care what you do.)
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To: AdmSmith

Oh, I can hardly wait for the kickback on this piece of research! It might be advisable for this scientist to invest in some personal security. Any cartoonists out there?


9 posted on 11/24/2006 9:33:07 AM PST by Gunny Gene
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To: AdmSmith

Wow, that chart is amazing.


10 posted on 11/24/2006 9:33:15 AM PST by proud American in Canada (Thy Will Be Done.)
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To: AdmSmith

Cletus Akhbar!


11 posted on 11/24/2006 9:34:00 AM PST by Jeff Chandler (Barack Hussein Obama)
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To: Jeff Chandler

LOL


12 posted on 11/24/2006 9:34:15 AM PST by chasio649
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To: AdmSmith

Those big black tents, and social restrictions preventing men from seeing or speaking to their prospective wives before marriage, can conceal some major physical and mental defects that would make a woman unmarriageable and largely undateable in any normal society.


13 posted on 11/24/2006 9:34:38 AM PST by GovernmentShrinker
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To: AdmSmith

As long as the young and promising of thier culture keep stepping up to win Darwin Awards, we can expect the trend to continue...


14 posted on 11/24/2006 9:35:54 AM PST by SquirrelKing
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To: AdmSmith

If I'd know how to do it at the time...
I should have saved a copy/screen-shot of the Palestinian Authority's
own web-page that discussed the in-freakin-credibley high levels of
cousin marriage in the PA areas.

Sounds much more retrograde than even the old stereotypes about
inbreeding in places like Oklahoma (my home state), Arkansas and
other southern states.


15 posted on 11/24/2006 9:36:06 AM PST by VOA
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To: Cinnamon

16 posted on 11/24/2006 9:36:24 AM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: GovernmentShrinker

and ... of course .... once the lights are out ........


17 posted on 11/24/2006 9:37:10 AM PST by knarf (Islamists kill each other ... News wall-to-wall, 24/7 .. don't touch that dial.)
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To: AdmSmith

And don't forget that you also have second cousins marriages...


18 posted on 11/24/2006 9:37:31 AM PST by Spacewalker
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To: AdmSmith

Consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person.

The degree of relative consanguinity can be illustrated with a consanguinity table, in which each level of lineal consanguinity (i.e., generation) appears as a row, and individuals with a collaterally-consanguinious relationship share the same row.

The connotations of degree of consanguinity varies by context (e.g., Canon law, Roman law, et al.). Most cultures define a degree of consanguinity below which sexual interrelationships are regarded as incestuous (the "prohibited degree of kinship"). In the Catholic Church, unwittingly marrying a closely-consanguinious blood relative is grounds for an annulment, but dispensations were granted, actually almost routinely (the Catholic Church's ban on marriage within the fourth degree of relationship (third cousins) lasted from 1550 to 1917; before that, the prohibition was to marriages between as much as seventh degree of kinship).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consanguinity


19 posted on 11/24/2006 9:40:00 AM PST by plenipotentiary
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To: AdmSmith

Have read somewhere that almost 50% of the marriages among Iraqis involved cousins (first, second, third, ect) that were arranged by their families, I'm sure this is one factor that contributes to them having a much higher degree of tribalism, sectarian strife, and the like over there compared to the West and elsewhere where it is rare.


20 posted on 11/24/2006 9:40:04 AM PST by yuta250
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