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RosesHaveThorns -> RE: BDSM, prejudices, and beer (10/28/2007 12:04:27 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: joyinslavery
there are more than a few reasons why a physician would ask that question.
and all of them are legitimate (for medical reasons).
There might be genetic defects within certain races, however, a family history will be far more useful, I think.
What if someone from South Africa(Assuming that they are descended from the native population) who came to the U.S. put down African-American? Then it would be assumed that they are at risk for Sickle Cell Anemia and Hyper-tension when really, they are not anymore so then say, a white person from the same country. However, African-Americans from West Africa (Which is where people who are descended from slaves generally come from) will be. But a person who is from West Africa and not descended from the slaves that were forced from Africa won't even have Hyper-tension, but they have a good chance of carrying the Sickle Cell anemia allele. And someone who is say, caucasian, but descended from people from the Mediterranean area will have a good chance of the Sickle Cell gene, but the stereotypical caucasian will not.
At least in the U.S. (I'll be damned if I know of another race system, the only one I've even read of is Brazilian, and if I understand it properly, it's pretty much a similar issue) the race categories don't actually have much to do with genetic lineages or chances of having certain genes.
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