Comments
weird_elf t1_j7hz42s wrote
Similar situation with sickle cell anaemia in Africa. One copy protects from Malaria.
Motor-Corner4861 t1_j7jly96 wrote
Huh. Interesting. I’m Ashkenazi and when I got TB at age 12, my body sort of encapsulated it (I don’t know how else to describe it) and I was able to take medicine twice a day for 6 months until it was cleared. I cried myself to sleep every night thinking I was going to die.
backcountrydrifter t1_j7j9h2k wrote
Why ashkenazi Jews? A few years ago I went down the rabbit hole of cystic fibrosis and found that it asymmetrically is found is ashlenazi Jews and is also extremely rare in African descent.
Has anyone figured out the correlation/causation of this yet?
[deleted] t1_j7jdkrg wrote
[removed]
CryptoYaar t1_j7jsasr wrote
I wonder about that, too. I wish someone could explain it to me. I know that in some parts of the world, people have hereditary issues due to too many inter-family marriages.
hear4theDough t1_j7k865m wrote
CF is big in Ireland too, as is Crone's disease. The former is due to the relatively small gene pool, the latter is a great way to survive a British induced starvation
Celcey t1_j7qxt1z wrote
Because Ashkenazi Jews generally marry other Ashkenazi Jews, so we all end up with similar genes, which means similar deformities (for lack of a better term).
AutoModerator t1_j7hakvp wrote
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
[deleted] t1_j7j9vov wrote
[removed]
ChildrensMilkFund t1_j7jpz72 wrote
Given the culture and beliefs a thousand years ago in the Holy Roman Empire it is not inconceivable that a specific enclave of people that come to be known to be resistant to sickness that infect medieval towns could take on the cultural characteristics of having a kind mystical influence or power.
SurrealHalloween t1_j7htdep wrote
This reminds me of the situation with Tay-Sachs disease. It’s also more common in Ashkenazi Jewish communities. It’s a disorder where if you have one copy of the gene it helps to protect you against TB, but having two copies leads to a fatal disease in early childhood.