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Row over health risk to cousins who marry
The Observer ^ | May 11 2008 | Robin McKie

Posted on 05/18/2008 1:13:15 AM PDT by neverdem

science editor

A major medical row will erupt this month when scientists and health experts hold two key meetings to discuss the controversial subject of marriages between cousins and their impact on health in Britain.

The debates will be held by the Royal Society of Medicine as part of its 100 Years of Medical Genetics celebrations on 23 May, and by the Progress Educational Trust at Clifford Chance in east London on 29 May. Both will reveal deep divisions among scientists.

Some researchers and politicians say inter-cousin unions, which are highly prevalent among British Pakistanis, have led to a striking rise in the incidence of rare recessive disorders, many of them fatal, in areas such as Bradford. The trend has led to calls for cousin marriages to be banned.

'In our local school for deaf children, half the pupils are of Asian origin though Asians only form about 20 per cent of the population,' said Ann Cryer, MP for Keighley. 'I also know of several sets of parents in my constituency who are cousins and whose children are severely disabled. I have no doubt that the mothers and fathers being closely related to each is a key factor.

'We give warnings about the dangers of smoking, drinking and taking drugs. It is now time that primary care trusts started doing the same for cousin marriages.

Others who have warned about the dangers include Phil Woolas, an environment minister, who provoked fury earlier this year when he said the culture of arranged marriages between first cousins was the 'elephant in the room' and argued that if 'you have a child with your cousin , the likelihood is there will be a genetic problem'.

This last claim is hotly disputed by genetic counsellors and Muslim doctors. They point out that the danger...

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: birthdefects; firstcousinmarriage; genetics; health
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1 posted on 05/18/2008 1:13:17 AM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Do not inbreed. It’s bad for your children.


2 posted on 05/18/2008 1:19:50 AM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost
Unless you are muslim. The offspring may become enlightened at that point.
3 posted on 05/18/2008 1:25:14 AM PDT by allmost
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To: neverdem
"We should recognise that for British Pakistanis, cousin marriages represent significant cultural advantages."

"Kissing cousins" are the foundation of tribalism. That's the reason the Pope banned the practice in the middle ages.

4 posted on 05/18/2008 1:25:33 AM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: allmost
This could explain a lot. . .Osama. . .Ahmadinejad - the same screaming 'mimis' in the streets, whether Iraq or Paris or Londonstan - the radical Left. . .(Liberals marrying Liberals. . .)

Whatever. . .a whole lot of 'misfitting going on'. . .

5 posted on 05/18/2008 1:30:53 AM PDT by cricket (Damn Political Correctness; before it irretrievably, damns us all. . .)
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To: neverdem; aculeus; dighton; sheik yerbouty; Lijahsbubbe
'Many famous figures married their first cousin, including Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.'

Yikes, the Origin of Relativity?

6 posted on 05/18/2008 1:32:12 AM PDT by Ezekiel
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To: cricket

Islam is the inbred religion. At it’s core. Terrible.


7 posted on 05/18/2008 1:42:21 AM PDT by allmost
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To: neverdem

This is nothing. The family trees in remote areas of the United States look like telephone poles.


8 posted on 05/18/2008 1:45:02 AM PDT by gov_bean_ counter ( Who is America's George Galloway?)
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To: gov_bean_ counter

Where?


9 posted on 05/18/2008 1:46:22 AM PDT by allmost
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To: gov_bean_ counter

I see no allah-al-screw your daughter and let you live. Update me if you can.


10 posted on 05/18/2008 1:55:06 AM PDT by allmost
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To: gov_bean_ counter
The family trees in remote areas of the United States look like telephone poles.

Ha, ha. The only ethnic group that it is acceptable to slur is the Appalachians, because they are mostly white.

11 posted on 05/18/2008 1:56:53 AM PDT by webheart
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To: neverdem

The doctors who say the risk only goes up to 4% are almost as dumb as the Muslims who defend the practice. 4% might apply if marrying cousins was only practiced by one generation, but what about when two first cousins marry, and then their offspring also marry relatives of the parents, and so on. Societies who ruled out inbreeding centuries ago knew exactly what they were doing.

Education is not what is needed here. Laws are necessary. Children with birth defects suffer all their lives, and are an expensive burden on society. Deliberately running that risk is cause for the legal system to step in.


12 posted on 05/18/2008 2:43:08 AM PDT by Knutsdatter
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To: Knutsdatter
In tribal muslim lands these ‘leaders’ are what we have to deal with..
13 posted on 05/18/2008 3:30:26 AM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost

obama o-eight boyyyyyyy.


14 posted on 05/18/2008 3:32:47 AM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost

I’m down with it yo...


15 posted on 05/18/2008 3:33:32 AM PDT by allmost
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To: neverdem
There are restrictions on who can marry whom?

Wait until the California Supreme Court hears about this.
16 posted on 05/18/2008 3:36:56 AM PDT by Question Liberal Authority (NOW can we drill for oil?)
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To: neverdem

I think therefore that a UK policy, indeed universal policy, should be established that all rag-heads be encouraged to marry at least their cousins - hell, go all the way, they should marry their brothers and sisters and parents.


17 posted on 05/18/2008 4:06:38 AM PDT by MarkT
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To: Knutsdatter

The big problem is that the risk of birth defects and genetic disorders go up exponentially as the inbreeding goes on from one generation to the next.


18 posted on 05/18/2008 4:36:56 AM PDT by RU88 (The false messiah can not change water into wine any more than he can get unity from diversity.)
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To: neverdem

This is a civil rights issue. Who is the government to say that my love for my first cousin / goat / cat / three other men is wrong, and prevent me from marrying all of them, simultaneously? Without all of them in my life, I feel empty. I’m being persecuted, I tell you. /sarc


19 posted on 05/18/2008 4:47:09 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (I have Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance policies.)
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To: neverdem
It's not so much a single cousin-marriage, as it is the cumulative effect of multiple cousin-marriages over an extended period of time.

Since this practice has gone on for generations, the gene pool in Britain is fairly narrow already. To continue the cousin-marriages with a smaller pool (the relatively restricted number of immigrants to Britain) just compounds the problem.

If I have a cat or a dog with a narrow pedigree (lots of line breeding already in place - I would not buy an inbred kit or pup), then I outcross. People would be well advised to do the same . . . .

20 posted on 05/18/2008 4:47:29 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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