Just to see if there is any sort of trend...lets see if any particular ethnic backgrounds seem to have more or less RA'ers. I mean, there are very few blacks here including African-American, African, Carribean etc and I also dont think we have many Latinos or Asians...I am interested to see where the rest of us that are lumped into the caucasion/Heinz 57/etc really fit in.
I am about 80% Italian and the rest German/Danish..but in my family the autoimmune disorders/ra is on my moms side which is the full blooded Italian side.
This is something I've been thinking about for quite a while. Why isn't AI more representative of the face of this disease? This can't be a white, mostly women disease, can it? One of the original (pre 'save to favorites' finds) I had on RA said RA was really HUGE in the black American population. Has anybody ever seen a breakdown on what AI diseases hits which race more?
If anybody wants - go look at the link I posted on Buckeye's thread about food bourne illnesses. The link I posted because I thought she was talking about genes had a very interesting ending - about running a sort-of reverse mapping thing across various races. Fascinating.
Pip
P.S. Both hubby and I are Heinz.
Edited for an end parenthesis (spelling?)
I don't know anyone's ethnicity from their posts, but at both the ped rheums and an adult rheum we went to, the waiting room looked in line with the racial breakdown of the community. Also, when we have traveled it has been like that.
FYI - we are boring WASP-y LOL.
I have met white men, women and kids, black men and women, asian women with is disease in my rhuemy's office.
I don't think it is ethnic background very much, but I really see it likes females. Mostly middle aged females.
I am surprised whenever I see the stat 60% female, seems more like 80% to me.
Same here. In my rheumy's office (due there tomorrow) we are all colours and all races, all ages but mainly, I think 50+, but some younsters as well.
My Grandma was 100% Yuki Indian, My Grandpa was 100% Italian.
Do not know what my dads parent were... but my dad was Irish, German and French.
So I am big mixture of everything. Turns out I am only 1/8th yuki indian.
I'm all Irish on my dad's side, German on my mom's.Here is something I found that was kinda interesting about JRA on the Merck website.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is an uncommon disease characterized by inflammation of joints or connective tissue. The cause is unknown. Although juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is not considered a hereditary disorder, hereditary factors may increase a child's chance of developing it.
Joy -
Thanks for doing the research! Gee, not what I remember reading but still...
Also, I didn't know that about Lupus.
Pip
Just a weird little thing that we have noticed over on my parent's support site that have kids with JRA...we have a lot of redhead kids over there with RA. I am a redhead and Danni is a redhead. Hmmmm. Well I am native american (my grandmother's grandmother was full blooded Cherakee and grandfather was French fur trader. Dad's side was also french and native american. I bet the native americans have/had some good remedies for it. Wish I knew what. They were the first to use plants and herbs for healing purposes. Ok I'm seeing a native american trend!I have multiple ethic groups in me. Arthritis is on both sides in the form of RA or Crohn's.
But, even though we all look white, my mother is scottish, english, irish, chicksaw native american and a couple other things i can't remember.
My father's family is english, poarch creek indian (native american), african and mexican.
So, we have a wide variety of what we are proud of, I just can't tell you where it might be from. I know my father's side which has native american much closer to my part of the tree has more people with arthritis than my mother's who is mostly of white family tree.
My grandma's indian tribe originated in Mexico and relocated in Arizona, I believe. So I guess they are Mex-indian LMAO!! Sorry, was funny to me. WE always get mistaked for Mexican's, my family, because we tan so easily and have dark brown hair, except my mom & oldest brother they have black hair.Swedish and DutchIm Czeckloslovakian (one side is Czeck and the other from Slovakia when they were seperate countries), Irish, Bohemian
This kind of stuff is where research dollars should be going to instaead of towards why 60 yr old men cant keep it up.....
Wow, my father was a redhead (Hungarian), and my maternal grandmother (Irish) was as brilliant a redhead as can be. I wonder........
Edited to add Nationality
I am 100% british, just like fish and chips and roast beef with yorkshire pudding.
PARENTS- BRITISH
GRANDPARENTS - BRITISH
GREAT GRANDPARENTS BRITISH.
Strange though there is a strong link of red/auburn hair in our family. My grandfather was red head, my mum was red head, I used to have lots of auburn tints in my hair (before the grey set in) , my youngest daughter was born with red hair ( blondish red now)
[QUOTE=Nancy R.]"we have a lot of redhead kids over there with RA. I am a redhead and Danni is a redhead. Hmmmm".
[/QUOTE]
You're darn right they should be studying this!
Hugs,
Pip
[QUOTE=Pip!][You're darn right they should be studying this!
[/QUOTE]
Can I point out that surely even the lowliest of rheumatologists would notice that a disproportionate number of patients were redheads?
Yet they tell us that hormones are not a part of this! I don't think they'd notice.
Hair color genes have been identified.
Actually, so what if we know the genes...wouldn't that lead to 'gene discrimination' by insurance companies?
Pip
the hormonal connection may not be direct. But in utereo the timing of when certain hormones kick in affect all sorts of things in our development. Plus the fact that more woman than men get RA prior to our 60's and after that it evens out kind of indicates that there is some kind of hormonal connection.
But I also believe there is a whole lot of stuff we don't know about how our body's chemistries work and as more is discovered will we begin to see answers
Pip! thats what I've always thought. Aren't they discriminating against us because of our genes?
My Mom is Mexican/Indian and my Dad is German/Italian. No natural redheads in the familia.
This is so interesting. Thanks for starting it.
Suzanne- the rheumys might notice if all their patients were red headed but not if the grandparents and great grandparents were and there are only red highlights in their patients hair. Its not a question that I think they would ask.
There are so many questionable aspects to this disease like why more women than men get it. Does this mean its definetly hormonal imbalance?? I wish I knew the answers.
Maybe I'm silly here, but I read this thing about how they're 'patenting' the genes they find so that any discoveries or 'therapies' on that gene gets the scientist who find it $. The article went on to say how this is a really bad thing. I'm like, "No duh!" Because as far as I can tell, most of the research is on finding the gene and very little on what to do once they find it. But the info and the tests are being developed....and the only people that can really effect as of now is us....and our insurance.
Anybody know how to find that article I posted on the US government using genes as a 'pre-existing condition' do deny veterans coverage. If the GOV is doing it...insurance companies cannot be far behind.
Buckeye - I didn't know about the in utero connection. Any info you'd care to share. I'm always trying to figure the JRA people out. I had it at one time and lost it....still bugs me.
Pip
Hair color is going to be a hard sell for my difficult mind, I'm afraid. If researchers have identified those PT08452 genes or whatever the heck was posted the other day, surely they saw some eye color or hair color genes, too, that seemed overly disproportionate. Those are known genes, right? Why come up with 'new' ones?
We had genetic testing on my daughter, and what they explained in the meeting afterwards leads to me to believe that would be the case.
For the record, the last known redhead in our family was my great grandfather; her great great grandfather.
American Indians on both sides, though! A sprinkling, but they are there.
[QUOTE=Suzanne]We had genetic testing on my daughter, and what they explained in the meeting afterwards leads to me to believe that would be the case.
[/QUOTE]
????
Before she was born (hubby and I are ancient; just wanted to be prepared) . She was supposed to be just perfect!!! [QUOTE=kelsaysmommy]Im Czeckloslovakian (one side is Czeck and the other from Slovakia when they were seperate countries), Irish, Bohemian
This kind of stuff is where research dollars should be going to instaead of towards why 60 yr old men cant keep it up.....
And BTW I am so white, I had skin cancer at age 30. Irish, Norwegian (mom's side), Scottish, English, German (dad's side). Everyone on Dad's side has blonde hair and blue eyes, and they all turn red as a beet in the sun. When I'm with cousins on my Dad's side, I stick out like a sore thumb - I have dark hair and dark brown eyes. my sister has light blue eyes and blonde hair, just like my oldest son and everyone on Dad's side. People on my Mom's side have blue or brown eyes and darker hair.
I see a lot of German, Indian, and red heads.
Kinda knocking out the ethnicity theory, I think.....?
I think one of Becky's legs is Welsh from my mum's side and the rest of her body English. All of her body gets it's share of arthritis though! She's dark streaky blonde - no red highlights in sight. Brilliant eyes that change colour with her clothes from grey to blue to green.
Excellent, interesting thread - we need someone cleverly ITminded to do some kind of spreadsheet we can fill in online - and send to the researchers!
Dee
[QUOTE=arriscolwell]I see a lot of German, Indian, and red heads.
Kinda knocking out the ethnicity theory, I think.....?
[/QUOTE]And smacked down AGAIN by the giant resident brain known as Kelly.
BexMum wants a spread sheet Kelly!! *cracks whip* LOL
Scottish, English, Irish, German. A slight touch of natural red, but most of this flaming red hair is from a bottle!now I read that balding comes from your maternal side, does that call for anything hair related?
Okay...so maybe there is no connection with ethnicity...I do naturally have auburn hair though I am a bottle blond now! As far as a hormone connection, there def. seems to be one, but even it is not accross the board. Just like auto immune and ra seems to run in some families and not at all in others...it just goes to show how random this disease seems to be.
I do believe that there is some kind of hormone connection for many of us because there are so many women whose symptoms showed up after the birth of a child.
There is no red hair on either side of my family, blonde. I can say though, that since I go to a rheumatologist in Boston, I see Black, hispanic, white, old, young, etc.....I really believe that hormones play a big role in this disease. I started having arthritis pains right after going through menopause. red hair does run in the family.........[QUOTE=arriscolwell]It's probably just because I'm in Florida, but I swear I'm the only person under 65 at my doctors. Seriously. And it's about 50/50 men and women there. But they are all white. Again though, I'm in Florida.....lol [/QUOTE]
It is not just Florida. I was sitting here thinking about the breakdown at my rheumies office and it is predominately people over 65 who are white. I would give the women a slight edge over the men. I live in Massachusetts.