Hi,
I am interested in understanding why children from Scheduled Tribes (ST) and other socially backward communities ( apart from genetic, lack of awareness, medical reach) tend to have higher prevalence of the sickle cell disorder.. Kindly suggest interesting readings on social-geographical research undertaken in this regard..
Genetic Variation and Disorders in Peoples of African Origin (Johns Hopkins Series in Contemporary Medicine and Public Health) 1st Edition
by Dr. James E. Bowman MD (Author), Dr. Robert F. Murray Jr. MD MS (Author)
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This applies only the US as I understand it, but may be of interest.
The Unexplained Resistance to Malaria
In addition to their knowledge of rice and cotton growing, enslaved Africans from the “Rice” and “Windward” regions of Africa were valued because they appeared to have a higher resistance to the deadly mosquito-borne malaria disease than Whites and slaves from other regions of Africa. While this turned out to be the case, it was not until the mid-twentieth century the connection between sickle cell disease and resistance to malaria was discovered.
In the human body, normal red blood cells that carry oxygen are in the shape of discs (and are abbreviated HbAA.) However, when a person suffers from sickle cell disease, the cells become sickle shaped, which reduces their oxygen carrying capacity (HbSS). If a single copy of the mutated gene is inherited from one parent, it will result in the sickle cell trait, in which only some of the red blood cells of the individual will be sickle shaped (HbAS). An individual with normal red blood cells (HbAA) is susceptible to death from malaria. A person with sickle cell disease (HbSS) is susceptible to death from the complications relating to sickle cell disease. The individual with sickle cell trait, who has one normal and one abnormal gene (HbAS), has a greater chance of surviving malaria and not suffering the adverse consequences of sickle cell disease. (The first systematic investigation of the malaria trait hypothesis was conducted by Anthony Allison in East Africa in 1953. This required working with children between four months and four years of age, when the morbidity and mortality from malaria is greatest. The study was done in Ugandan villages...and Allison found that children in this age group carrying HbAS had significantly lower malaria parasite counts than in those with HbAA.)
While it was true enslaved Africans had some inherited resistance to tropical diseases, their masters were extremely vulnerable. Because of this, white planters lived miles away from their rice and cotton fields, and visited their plantations only between March and October. A white manager, or overseer, would be in charge of day-to-day operations, and even then, he might delegate that responsibility to a trusted slave working as foreman or “driver.” Thus, the coastal and island enslaved Africans had little contact with Whites, which allowed them to blend together the various African tribal traditions to form their own Gullah language, rituals, customs, religion, music, crafts and diet. The task system of labor would also play an instrumental part in this process.
From: Gullah Culture: 1670 to 1950 Paperback – March 16, 2017 by David B. McCoy Amazon
Gullah Culture: 1670 to 1950 Kindle Edition by David B McCoy. Also B % N.
This is on line.
Allison, AC. "Protection Afforded by Sickle-cell Trait Against Subtertian Malarial Infection". (FEB. 6, 1954). British Medical Journal.
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