Screening for Genetic Disorders among Jews: How should theTay-Sachs Screening Program be Continued?
Joel Zlotogora, MD, PhD and Alex Leventhal, MD, MPH
Click on the icon on the upper right hand side for the article by Joel Zlotogora, MD, PhD and Alex Leventhal, MD, MPH, published in IMAJ.
IMAJ 2000; 2; September; 665-667
Abstract
The screening program in Israel for Tay-Sachs disease has proven very successful, giving Jewish couples a choice not to have affected children. The technology of carrier detection is now possible in several other severe genetic diseases that are relatively frequent among Jews. Due to the current confusion, a policy is needed to determine how the TSD screening program should be continued in the Israeli Jewish population. We propose that such a screening program include only mutations agreed by consensus as causing a disease severe enough to warrant the possibility of therapeutic abortion. We also propose that general screening include only mutations that are relatively frequent, taking into account the carrier frequencies in the Israeli Jewish population.
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