Orthopaedic conference: First-cousin marriages cause genetic disorders, bone diseases, say experts
Around 13 foreign experts areattending the conference۔
KARACHI:
Marriage between first cousins has been reported to be responsible for a host of genetic disorders in the couple’s offspring, said POA chairman Dr Asadullah Mahar on Friday.
This practice also increases the chances of children being born with bone diseases, he said on the first day of the 26th International Orthopaedic Conference that started on Friday. The three-day conference is being hosted by the othopaedic surgery department of the Chandka Medical College of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana, in collaboration with the Pakistan Orthopaedic Association (POA) and PharmEvo, a pharmaceutical marketing company.
Dr Mahar said that deficiencies of calcium and vitamin D and lower intake of milk or lack of exposure to sunlight can contribute to orthopaedic problems. He added that more than 40 per cent of the country’s population is suffering from some kind of bone-related disease. People hurt in bomb blasts, firing incidents and accidents need to be treated right away to avoid potentially devastating complications, added Mahar.
POA secretary Dr Zamir Ahmed Soomro said that over 80 per cent of orthopaedic patients in the country had suffered through some form of accident. “This [percentage] is going up and it means that doctors have less time to attend to other issues,” said Dr Soomro. He added that POA was also looking for public-private partnership to create institutions for children with congenital problems.
Trauma centres should be establish in every city, and the government should adequately fund them, added Dr Mahar.
A total of 35 lectures and 90 papers will be presented over the course of the conference. Around 13 experts from the United States, Germany, Egypt, from Canada, the United Kingdom and Malaysia are attending the conference. “Some foreign professors were afraid of the law and order situation in Pakistan, but they are now enjoying interacting with Pakistani doctors,” said Dr Manzoor Ahmed Memon, co-chairman of the POA. Some of the foreign delegates will also be visiting historical sites like Moen-jo-Daro and Makli.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.
Marriage between first cousins has been reported to be responsible for a host of genetic disorders in the couple’s offspring, said POA chairman Dr Asadullah Mahar on Friday.
This practice also increases the chances of children being born with bone diseases, he said on the first day of the 26th International Orthopaedic Conference that started on Friday. The three-day conference is being hosted by the othopaedic surgery department of the Chandka Medical College of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana, in collaboration with the Pakistan Orthopaedic Association (POA) and PharmEvo, a pharmaceutical marketing company.
Dr Mahar said that deficiencies of calcium and vitamin D and lower intake of milk or lack of exposure to sunlight can contribute to orthopaedic problems. He added that more than 40 per cent of the country’s population is suffering from some kind of bone-related disease. People hurt in bomb blasts, firing incidents and accidents need to be treated right away to avoid potentially devastating complications, added Mahar.
POA secretary Dr Zamir Ahmed Soomro said that over 80 per cent of orthopaedic patients in the country had suffered through some form of accident. “This [percentage] is going up and it means that doctors have less time to attend to other issues,” said Dr Soomro. He added that POA was also looking for public-private partnership to create institutions for children with congenital problems.
Trauma centres should be establish in every city, and the government should adequately fund them, added Dr Mahar.
A total of 35 lectures and 90 papers will be presented over the course of the conference. Around 13 experts from the United States, Germany, Egypt, from Canada, the United Kingdom and Malaysia are attending the conference. “Some foreign professors were afraid of the law and order situation in Pakistan, but they are now enjoying interacting with Pakistani doctors,” said Dr Manzoor Ahmed Memon, co-chairman of the POA. Some of the foreign delegates will also be visiting historical sites like Moen-jo-Daro and Makli.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.