Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Does anyone on the forum have any knowledge about population genetics?
Apparently there is a cluster of sickle cell anemia in Norfolk which is genetically identical to that in the Punjab.
There are theories about how this has happened. Can anyone direct me to any references? (My genetics lapsed in '75 when I left Uni, so not too scientific please.)
I have goggled and goggled and my eyesight is now becoming dim.

AKAP wrote:Does anyone on the forum have any knowledge about population genetics?
Apparently there is a cluster of sickle cell anemia in Norfolk which is genetically identical to that in the Punjab.
There are theories about how this has happened. Can anyone direct me to any references? (My genetics lapsed in '75 when I left Uni, so not too scientific please.)
I have goggled and goggled and my eyesight is now becoming dim.

all sounds a bit erudite to me!

AKAP wrote:Does anyone on the forum have any knowledge about population genetics?
Apparently there is a cluster of sickle cell anemia in Norfolk which is genetically identical to that in the Punjab.

How intriguing. Do you mean they are native Norfolk people with sickle cell? It gives a whole new meaning to the saying 'Normal for Norfolk'.

Katharine wrote:

AKAP wrote:Does anyone on the forum have any knowledge about population genetics?
Apparently there is a cluster of sickle cell anemia in Norfolk which is genetically identical to that in the Punjab.

How intriguing. Do you mean they are native Norfolk people with sickle cell? It gives a whole new meaning to the saying 'Normal for Norfolk'.

I'm hoping that someone can point me in the right direction to find out more.
My limited knowledge is that the particular mutation for this variation of sickle cell, either occours twice, once in the Punjab and once in Norfolk. (Possible but unlikely). Or more likely that soldiers in the Norfolk regiments posted to the North West Frontier. Took local wives and then returned with wives and family to Norfolk.

Genetics is fascinating. The Pathan tribes of NWFP (North West Frontier Province) have many people with green eyes. If you ask, they are descended from Iskander's men, who were 'here in our grandfathers' time'. Further questioning shows they mean Alexander the Great.

Katharine wrote:Genetics is fascinating. The Pathan tribes of NWFP (North West Frontier Province) have many people with green eyes. If you ask, they are descended from Iskander's men, who were 'here in our grandfathers' time'. Further questioning shows they mean Alexander the Great.

I knew that.

Do they have thalassaemia, endemic in people of the eastern Mediterranean?

How do you know if you're at a wedding in Norfolk?
Everyone's sat on one side of the church...

From what I remember about anaemia both parents need to be carriers of the sickle cell gene. If you get cousins marrying each other (such as is common in India) then the likelihood of this is obviously increased.

Visit the site below for all the info you need:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle_cell_anemia


I'm full of information me!!!

I first came across sickle cell anaemia when some of my pupils suffered it, I was a VSO teaching in Northern Ghana. It gave some sort of protection against malaria, can't remember the details.

In Sarawak I came across another similar disease thalassemia, the son of friends of us needed the monthly blood transfusions.

AKAP wrote:Does anyone on the forum have any knowledge about population genetics?
Apparently there is a cluster of sickle cell anemia in Norfolk which is genetically identical to that in the Punjab.
There are theories about how this has happened. Can anyone direct me to any references? (My genetics lapsed in '75 when I left Uni, so not too scientific please.)
I have goggled and goggled and my eyesight is now becoming dim.

Population genetics is one of my fortes. Or at least it should be after 3 years. I don't know much about this specifically, but have access to many journal articles through uni, so I'll see if I can find something for you.

Thanks

Apologies if I've come to this too late but have only just discovered the bunch of nutters on this site.....

Have you tried any of the local Clinical Genetics departments? There's one at Addenbrookes in Cambridge

Or there's several SC and Thalass centres - try here

http://www.perinatal.nhs.uk/screening/f ... and/ee.htm

http://www.patientinformation.org.uk/pipsmedical.htm#S (look for sickle cell)

http://www.sicklecellsociety.org/index.htm

These tend to tell you what it is rather than why it is but if you contact them, they may help. I got different access to info at work so can look at the medical journals

And yes - there is a population cluster in Greece.

http://www.thalassaemia.org.cy/articles ... istrib.htm has the following

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS
Bernadette Modell, Welcome Principal Research Fellow, Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology University College London Medical School.

For a long time people thought that thalassaemia had originated in Greece and had been spread around the world by the armies of Alexander the Great in 300 BC. We now know that the mutations that produce haemoglobin disorders have occurred spontaneously in many different countries and at many different times in the past.

Today, haemoglobin disorders are common in parts of the world where malaria used to be rite, or where it is still a problem. This is because thalassaemia and sickle cell give the carrier a strong natural protection against malaria. It does not stop carriers being infected with malaria: it only reduces the risk of dying from it. It is only sickle cell and thalassaemia traits that help to protect people against malaria.

Carriers travelling to malarious areas must not rely on their sickle cell or thalassaemia trait to protect them against the disease. People with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia major have a particularly high risk of dying from malaria if they are infected, and must take very careful precautions when they visit a country where malaria occurs.

The effect of thalassaemia and sickle cell traits on malaria....

Thanks for the links, I had tried to follow up Bernadette Modell's research but I'm still looking for the elusive information about Norfolk.
I have a few feelers out still but no success yet.