Marrying within one’s family is not usual practice for good reason – genetic diseases can occur more frequently. Aside from that, University of Cambridge researchers have found that children whose parents are related are more susceptible to some infections. By looking at data from certain parts of The Gambia where intra-family marriage is common, Gambian families where children had tuberculosis or hepatitis B, had parents who were significantly more likely to be related than in families with healthy children. Although more investigation needs to be done, it makes sense to think that children whose parents are related may have less diversity at the immunogenetic as well.
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Tags: Cambridge, disease, hepatitis B, incest, marriage, TB, University of Cambridge
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.