why do only blacks catch sickle cell? why are they more likely than other races to catch some diseases?aids?

Question

just wondering why blacks are so vulnerable to sickle cell and other diseases.

Answer 1

why do whites catch lice?

Answer 2

Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disorder that mostly affects people of African ancestry, but also occurs in other ethnic groups, including people who are of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent. More than 70,000 Americans have sickle cell anemia. And about 2 million Americans - and one in 12 African Americans - have sickle cell trait (this means they carry one gene for the disease, but do not have the disease itself).

Sickle cell anemia occurs when a person inherits two abnormal genes (one from each parent) that cause their red blood cells to change shape. Instead of being flexible and round, these cells are more rigid and curved in the shape of the farm tool known as a sickle - that's where the disease gets its name. The shape is similar to a crescent moon.

Answer 3

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder. It is genetic, so it will stay within a population or race unless they have children with more individuals from other races. You don't "catch" it. As for AIDS, it is caused by a virus, which anyone can catch. The more you have unprotected sex, share needles, or have body fluid contact with infected individuals, the higher your risk. It may seem like more blacks have AIDS because some leaders in Africa actually prevent their people from being educated about AIDS, and they don't offer condoms. Very sad. I don't know the exact numbers in the US, but I guess it all comes down to who is more likely to engage in risky behavior.

Answer 4

Sickle-cell disease occurs more commonly in people (or their descendants) from parts of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is or was common. The mutated blood cells deprives the malaria-causing virus of the ideal environment to survive and cause fever. 1 in 12 blacks in the U.S. have inherited the sickle-cell anemia, but the blood disease cannot be transmitted. You cannot catch it.
AIDS and high blood pressure might be more common among black Americans because of bad social habits (not wearing condoms) and very poor, high fat diets.

Answer 5

You cant "catch" sickle cell! Its hereditary. And sickle cell is the only disease that blacks are more likely to have than other races. Nobody knows why, but that's just the way it is. What makes you think that we more vulnerable than others?

Answer 6

Sickle cell is thought to have evolved as a protective measure against malaria, common in sub-Saharan Africa. I personally have never heard that they are more likely than other races to get things like AIDS. I suspect you may be thinking that from the fact that AIDS in Africa is particularly bad, but that is not a racial factor, it's much more an educational and medical factor. A lot of people in Africa still have misconceptions about how it is spread, and there are myths circulating there about it that actually help spread it, like the one that claims that having sex with a virgin will cure it. All that does of course is infect the former virgin and make the problem worse.

African medicine aslo tends to be less advanced than Wester countries and so the disease is not caught or treated as often or will as good results.

Answer 7

First of all, you can't "catch" Sickle Cell disease, it's hereditary. I have it and have been diagnosed with it since I was 5 weeks old. Second of all, why did you catch ignorance. If you're gonna ask a question at least sound a little more educated.

Answer 8

Sickle cell is not a 'catchable' disease. It is a genetic disease more prevalent in people who have ancestors in areas with malaria - Africa and some areas around the Mediterranean, although it's rarer in that population. It comes in two forms, depending on whether you have one or two copies of the gene. It is beneficial in areas with malaria to have one copy of the gene, since it means the malaria parasites cannot live in your body, but having two means your blood cells don't have enough oxygen all the time to keep *you* alive.

People with different genetic backgrounds can be more or less susceptible to different diseases. It has been hypothesized that people whose ancestors survived the Black Death in the Middle Ages may have less susceptibility to catching HIV. People from Northern Europe are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis and anemia, and people with native American ancestry have a higher incidence of diabetes.

As for the modern, Western health crisis of HIV in the population, one problem was that early HIV/AIDS education was tailored to gay white males - black heterosexual females are now the fastest growing HIV group, partly because the education from the 1980s and 90s did not target them and made it sound like it was only a gay disease.

Answer 9

Sickle cell anemia is linked to Malaria, which is endemic in Africa. It actually helps carriers survive or not even get Malaria. It is a genetic adaptation to that environment. It requires that both parents have and pass on to their offspring the genetic material that causes it.

As far as AIDS is concerned, this has not been tied to any one race that I am aware of. Many Africans have the disease because cultural mores there help its spread. Note that in Africa, it is a Hetero disease.

Answer 10

You don't "catch" sickle cell. There was some research showing that it was originally a defense against malaria. Many ethnic groups have diseases/disorders that are peculiar to that race. Light skinned, light haired peoples have more incidence of gall bladder disease and osteoporosis. Tay-Sachs is more prevalent among Jewish peoples. Races are also studied for why they DON"T get a particular disease. Japanese people (before their diet changed) didn't often get cancer except for the stomach (attributed to nitrites and nitrates in preserved fish) German people are susceptible to a circulation problem caused by smoking and venous constriction. (can't remember the name) Eskimos are studied because they don't get sick and eat mostly blubber but don't have high cholesterol. and on and on.

Answer 11

jees. you should watch the way you phrase a question like that.

Sickle cell is hereditary, it runs mainly in bloodlines of African descent..

just like chrone's mainly runs in jewish bloodlines. And I'm sure there are hereditary diseases that only run in other bloodlines.

African Americans are no more likely to catch diseases than anyone else. African's (as in the people that live in Africa) however, have terrible healthcare. which is why it may seem that way. AIDs is not picky, it will take anybody it can get.