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Archiver > PRATHER > 1998-02 > 0887351791


From: Robert Gray <>
Subject: [PRATHER-L] Genetic predispositions
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 01:36:31 -0500


Hi all,
Thanks for the replies re my sudden thought last night. Have had
several comments on color blindness and cancer. There are varying
degrees of color blindness from just a slight amount to total color
blindness. My son is just red/green color blind and that is only if the
red has some pink and the green has yellow in it. He can tell the reds
if there is some rust or orange, and greens if there is some blue
instead of yellow. While women are usually carriers, there is a small
population of women who are color blind. Now, my son has thought about
becoming a radiologist, and if you have ever seen CAT scans and the
degree of color in them, you can understand he might have a real
difficult time -- just like the man who wanted to be a boat captain and
couldn't differentiate the red and green markers. They are working on
glasses that might correct this condition to a degree.
Ladies, if you are one who has breast cancer rampant in your part of
the family, there is now a test that determines a defect on one gene
that will predispose you to it. If you do not possess it, you will most
likely escape breat cancer. There was an article in this last months
Readers Digest about a family of women who almost all had breast cancer.
I have suffered from Crohn's disease for 30 years and due to great
medical care I am one of the lucky ones -- this disease is suppose to
have a genetic predisposition yet the only other family member I know of
with it is a half great-uncle on my mother's side of the family. A
great nephew was born with Hirschsprung's disease and had to have
immediate surgery. This, too, is a strong genetic predisposition and if
not discovered right away, a child can die immediately or linger for
months depending on the degree of the disease. I had never heard of the
disease until my great-nephew was born with it and now I know of three
other people who have it in the family. The "authority" for the disease
is here in Cincinnati, so when our great nephew has complications from
his early surgeries, they brought him here for consultation. So, how
many of the babies our grandmothers had who died after three or four
months had Hirschsprung's or some other malady that can now be treated?
I remember my grandmother saying her baby, Alma, had such stomach
problems and was so swollen in the abdomen and had trouble having a
bowel movement or would have diarrhea -- all symptoms of Hirschsprungs
disease. Alma died at three or four months of age after failing to
prosper. How many are now born with just a slight degree of the disease
and have doctors perplexed about what it is?
So, if a cry for "help" is needed, I guess this web site might help in
more ways than one. Carole Prater Gray

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