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Britain |
'Cousin Marriage' Doubles Gene Risk for Babies |
2013-07-06 |
[An Nahar] First cousins who marry run twice the risk of having a child with genetic abnormalities, according to the findings of a study in the English city of Bradford, published Friday in The Lancet. The city, which has a high proportion of South Asian immigrants and their descendants among its population, served as a microcosm for examining the risk of blood relative couplings. About 37 percent of marriages among people of Pak origin in the study involved first cousins, compared to less than one percent of "British unions", said the researchers. University of Leeds investigator Eamonn Sheridan led a team that pored over data from the "Born in Bradford" study, which tracks the health of 13,500 babies born at the city's main hospital between 2007 and 2011. Out of 11,396 babies for whom family details were known, 18 percent were the offspring of first-cousin unions, mainly among people of Pak heritage. A total of 386 babies -- three percent -- were born with anomalies ranging from problems in the nervous, respiratory and digestive systems, to urinary and genital defects and cleft palates. This Bradford rate was nearly twice the national average, said the study. Other factors blamed for genetic flaws, such as alcohol consumption, smoking and social deprivation, can be ruled out, it said. "Thirty-one percent of all anomalies in children of Pak origin could be attributed to consanguinity" or marriage between first cousins, said the study. |
Posted by:Fred |
#26 Thanks... Learn something every day. |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-07-06 23:54 |
#25 My sister married my wife's brother - met him at our wedding rehearsal. Their kids and our kids are double cousins. |
Posted by: Glenmore 2013-07-06 22:32 |
#24 Here you go, CrazyFool |
Posted by: Uncle Phester 2013-07-06 21:06 |
#23 Gotta ask.... What is a double cousin? Second Cousin? |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-07-06 19:24 |
#22 Frozen Al (may you thaw soon) answer. "North Carolina permits first cousins, prohibits double cousins" |
Posted by: Ulavimble Omaving1848 2013-07-06 18:55 |
#21 Does anyone know why North Carolina has a checkerboard pattern? Is that where the inter-species issue comes in? Al |
Posted by: Frozen Al 2013-07-06 18:12 |
#20 I'm terrible at names, but those dogs and pine trees sure look familiar. |
Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-06 16:40 |
#19 In our new and improved culture I'm suprised approval hasn't gotten to consenting species, cousins or not. |
Posted by: BrerRabbit 2013-07-06 15:53 |
#18 First cousin marriage is forbidden in Kentucky, West Virginia and Arkansas? Who'd have guessed? And OK in California, NY & MA? |
Posted by: Glenmore 2013-07-06 15:16 |
#17 That's not a family tree---that's a root-bound plant. |
Posted by: Alaska Paul 2013-07-06 14:38 |
#16 Gary Busey Smile ? |
Posted by: Au Auric 2013-07-06 14:21 |
#15 Is North Carolina county option? |
Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2013-07-06 13:35 |
#14 Gary Busey's autobiography, I think |
Posted by: Frank G 2013-07-06 13:04 |
#13 Yeah, but some proximity to mates reduces abnormalities, too. If your family is prone to big teeth and your spouse's family tends toward small mouths, your offspring could have dental problems. Well, I read that somewhere. Prolly the internet. |
Posted by: Bobby 2013-07-06 13:01 |
#12 Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaadeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! /Faulkner |
Posted by: Shipman 2013-07-06 12:02 |
#11 The rest of the world, Legal 1st Cousin marriage in Blue. |
Posted by: Au Auric 2013-07-06 11:43 |
#10 Short trip around the USA, could answer some lingering question, no ? |
Posted by: Au Auric 2013-07-06 11:27 |
#9 I guess it's a pretty subtle concept that marrying your first cousin is like marrying your half-sister. |
Posted by: Fred 2013-07-06 11:13 |
#8 Or, as my daughter was told by a classmate in HS when they had to hang their family trees on the wall 'That's not a family tree, it's a family vine!' |
Posted by: Glenmore 2013-07-06 10:45 |
#7 when your family tree is a stick, you might have a problem |
Posted by: Frank G 2013-07-06 10:26 |
#6 The increased risk of genetic abnormality should include beneficial ones as well as harmful ones; where are the Pakistani Isaac Newtons or Michael Jordan's? |
Posted by: Glenmore 2013-07-06 09:59 |
#5 REPEATED first cousin marriage I expect to square or cube that rate. |
Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2013-07-06 09:24 |
#4 according to the findings of a study in the English city of Bradford Whatever happened to elementary math? |
Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-07-06 09:08 |
#3 Cleopatra Ptolemy to the courtesy phone. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-07-06 08:45 |
#2 Same 1st cousins on both sides of the family tree, always makes for tricky Reunions. Trust me. Altho entertaining as Besoeker points out in his quote. |
Posted by: Shipman 2013-07-06 06:13 |
#1 Other factors blamed for genetic flaws, such as alcohol consumption, smoking and social deprivation, can be ruled out, it said. "Flaws" in West Yorkshire possibly. Evidence of conformity and group attraction in Georgia. :-( |
Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-06 03:01 |