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10 de Marzo, 2008

Sickle Cell Disease Rising Among Latinos

Categorized under Ciencia , Raza | Tags: Latino, Public Health

WHAT IS OFTEN thought of as a disease limited to the African American population is now becoming increasingly more prevalent among Latinos.

The painful blood disorder called sickle-cell disease is striking an increasing number of Latino people in Colorado, according to University of Colorado researchers.
The trend in the disease — long associated with African-Americans — is worrying because many Latinos aren't as aware of the risks, said Kathy Hassell, medical director of the university's Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center.

"Obstetricians have gotten pretty good at screening African-American women, but they don't think about Ms. Lopez or Ms. Gonzales," Hassell said. "There's no word in Spanish for sickle cell."

Hassell has been tracking the percentage of babies born every year with a single sickle-cell gene — the disease occurs only in those who get a sickle-cell gene from both mother and father. [...]

Sickle-cell disease has long been associated with African- Americans, but the gene is also common among people of Mediterranean and Indian descent, Edwards said, and increasingly in Latino populations.

The disease probably evolved in parts of the world where malaria is or was a problem, Edwards said. People with one sickle gene have some protection against malaria.

—Sickle-cell disease spreads; Medical centers adjust how they look for and treat the blood disease as it grows among Latinos

My beautiful little girl Luna has this trait, though not the disease.

 The Unapologetic Mexican has been known to scribble a few things besides meandering, verbose, self-congratulatory blog posts. However, they are rarely as fun. Finally, let it be known that Nezua first dared bust out this Habanero of Truth at exactly 6:58 AM.  | Top | View blog reactions

Comentarios (3)

Carmen D. dijo:

Holy Cow! I had no idea that Sickle Cell affects Latino people. I have the Sickle Cell trait, too. I guess that means that our kids can't reproduce with each other...well, if I had any. bummer.

Palabras por Carmen D. spat forth on el 10 de Marzo, 2008 at 08:27 PM

nezua dijo:

i know. i didnt either. i thought it was odd...when she was born and they told us about the trait. until learning this. i feel bad for giving it to her! although i guess its actually some protection for her against malaria. so that's good. but she'll have to know the background of whomevah she gets with, assuming they are male and she wants kids eventually. and i'll have to read up on this more.

Palabras por nezua spat forth on el 11 de Marzo, 2008 at 01:59 PM

RC dijo:

I went through this with my kid in 1993, upset about it all summer, only to find out in the fall that it was a false test. He was already 13 when he was tested.
The doctor told my ex wife that because she was Puerto Rican descended from blacks and I was descended from Portuguese, he could have the trait.
I had never heard that before. We were all so glad to find he was OK after all, but we didn't learn that for 4 months.

Palabras por RC spat forth on el 11 de Marzo, 2008 at 04:07 PM