Chromosomal Abnormalities

[Jumpshooter]

*Why is it that certain "Ethnic groups" have a predisposition for certain specific genetically based metabolic dysfunctions? For example, Caucasions are more prone to skin cancer, Asians ar more prone to high blood pressure, African ancestry folk are more prone to sickel cell anemia, and Hispanics are more prone to obesity. These unique trends in metabolic dysfunction are intriguing.

[MrMistery]

I do not know where you got the info and if they are true or not. But i can explain the first one. Caucasions are more prone to skin cancer as their skin cells produce less melanine than others. With less of this important protective pigment, the skin cells are more vulnerable to radiation

[Jessieh04]

I would think that a big portion of the reason is that different cultures have different dietery habits and the environmental condition that they are in is different.

Genetically, if you think about a population of individuals that is homogenous. For instance a population of the same asians. Disease can spready quickly because there is not a lot of variety in resistance. BUt one the disease mutates and adapts to overcome the immune system of one asian in that population, the disease is adapted to overcome every asian in that homogenous population.

Also, something interesting in recent news is there is a new drug called BiDil that is the first race based drug approved by the FDA. It specifically targets african americans.

"NitroMed, the company behind the drug, revealed on Monday the drug improved survival rates by 43% compared to standard treatment. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3985653.stm

[Jumpshooter]

*I read that article on the website, thanks for sharing the info.
*In my studies of molecular epidemiology, I"ve observed this interesting trend of "metabolic dysfunction" due to "ethnicity".