Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine
If you let fears run your shidduchim you will cause
yourself untold grief. If you are presented with a prince
with some background of disease -- check into it with a
reliable physician, not a well-meaning but misinformed
neighbor. Many of us carry some bad genes, and if you find
someone who doesn't, what guarantee do you have that they
won't, Rachmono litzlan, die young of cancer or
trauma?
Psychiatric disease can be a cause of a ruinous marriage, but
many people with depression and manic depression function
very well with new medications. Most people cannot even tell.
Schizophrenia is tougher and we have no good treatments for
personality disorders, but again do not make this decision
without consulting with someone.
Diabetics today do very well. We have a neighbor with three
beautiful children who has a wonderful marriage yet she is
diabetic.
Endometirosis is a tough disease that can cause pregnancy to
be difficult to achieve.
Obesity can be inherited, as can be heart disease, but we
have good screening tests now. There is a fearful gene called
BRAC which can cause ovarian and mammary cancer in female
offspring and can cause cancer in male offspring as well.
People with history of such in their family should be
screened. There are many other genetic diseases but again,
not all genetic diseases are passed down 100 percent.
In Sephardim, we often see a disease called FMF which causes
fever abdominal pain and kidney failure, they as well get
g6pd, a disease where their blood cells can be destroyed by
certain medications and by fava beans. Ashkenazim get many
diseases that are genetic, by far the most common is Tay
Sachs, a tragic disease where children die at a young age of
lack of an important enzyme in the brain. Write me in care of
the Yated.
A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this
column. Seroxat is one of the medications that make
depressed people functional again. If you know of someone
with depression, Seroxat can make a real difference. It has
been found to be very safe as well.
