J. R. Bruman asked the question as to the incidence of the genetic
defect which causes severe (sometimes fatal) hemolytic anemia from
eating fava beans.  I ran a MEDLINE search this evening and found 4
articles on first attempt.
 
As mentioned before, the deficiency of G6PD enzyme which leads to
the problem is present more frequently in people of Mediterranean
and/or Middle Eastern origin, although it occurs in Asia as well.
In a study in Sardinia, the "attack rate" (incidence of the anemia
in people eating fava beans) was 7.5%, a rather high percentage,
but this, of course, is in an area where Mediterranean people live.
There is a laboratory test (moderately expensive, I think) that can
tell if you have the enzyme deficit (and this same deficit can
cause problems with certain drugs, notably Chloroquine, a drug used
to prevent and treat malaria); but, frankly, if I wanted to ingest
L-DOPA, I would take the pills instead.
 
The MEDLINE output follows below:
 
 
 
      S1      72  FAVISM
 
?find s1 and incidence
              72  S1
          105441  INCIDENCE
      S2       4  S1 AND INCIDENCE
 
?type s2/l/all
 
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08126076   92264076
  Marked decline of favism after neonatal glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase
screening and health education: the northern Sardinian experience.
  Meloni T; Forteleoni G; Meloni GF
  Clinica Pediatrica A. Filia, Universita Sassari, Italia.
  Acta Haematol (SWITZERLAND)   1992,  87 (1-2) p29-31,  ISSN
0001-5792
Journal Code: 0S8
  Languages: ENGLISH
  Document type: JOURNAL ARTICLE
  JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENT: 9208
  Subfile:   INDEX MEDICUS
  Favism  is  a  potentially  fatal  manifestation  of
glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase  (G6PD)  deficiency,  and  it  is  therefore  a
public health
problem  in areas where this genetic abnormality is common. In the
district
of  Sassari  (northern Sardinia), the frequency of G6PD male
hemizygotes is
approximately  7.5%,  and  therefore  all  newborns  since  1971
have been
screened  for  G6PD deficiency. We have analyzed the incidence of
favism in
this community in two 10-year periods: (1) 1961-1970; and (2)
1981-1990. In
period 1, there were 508 cases of favism, of which 76% occurred in
boys. In
period (2) there were 144 cases of favism, of which only 52% in
boys. Thus,
between  the  two periods there was an overall decrease in the
incidence of
favism  of  75%, whereas the proportion of girls affected has
approximately
doubled.  These  data  suggest that neonatal screening and health
education
programs  can  produce  a  substantial  decrease  in the number of
cases of
favism,  and  that the relative increase in favism in girls is
possibly due
to failure of the screening method used to detect all the
heterozygotes for
G6PD deficiency.
  Tags: Female; Human; Male
  Descriptors:   *Favism--Prevention   and  Control--PC;
*Glucosephosphate
Dehydrogenase  Deficiency--Prevention  and  Control--PC; *Health
Education;
*Neonatal  Screening;  Child;  Child,  Preschool;
Favism--Epidemiology--EP;
 Favism--Etiology--ET;     Glucosephosphate     Dehydrogenase
Deficiency
--Complications--CO;      Glucosephosphate     Dehydrogenase
Deficiency
--Epidemiology--EP; Infant, Newborn; Italy
 
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07637809   91156809
  Nutrition and health in China, 1949 to 1989.
  Kantha SS
  Department   of   Physiology   and   Biochemistry,   Medical
College  of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19129.
  Prog Food Nutr Sci (ENGLAND)   1990,  14 (2-3) p93-137,  ISSN
0306-0632
Journal Code: Q08
  Languages: ENGLISH
  Document type: JOURNAL ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW, ACADEMIC
  JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENT: 9106
  Subfile:   INDEX MEDICUS
  Since  the  establishment of a new social order in 1949, China's
attempts
to  feed and nurture its large population has been a topic of
serious study
in  many  disciplines.  This  review  focuses on dietary sources of
Chinese
population  and  incidence,  increase and decline of important diet
related
health  disorders  in  China  during  the  last  four  decades.
Literature
published  since 1949 on goiter, rickets, riboflavin deficiency,
beri beri,
vision  impairment,  favism,  cancer,  atherosclerosis  and
coronary heart
disease,  hypertension,  dental  and  smoking  related  diseases,
diabetes
mellitus,    pancreatitis,   lactose   intolerance,   mineral
deficiency,
Kashin-Beck disease, parasitic diseases and genetic disorders are
reviewed.
Also  presented  selectively  are reports related to
ethnodietetics, health
care,  maternal  health  and  pediatric  care  as well as
longevity. In the
1980s,  total caloric intake of Chinese population showed a 19%
increase on
a  daily  basis  from  that  of late 1940s. In overall terms, plant
derived
foods supplied 93% of energy, 87% of protein and 55% of fat to the
Chinese.
Among  the  animal  foods, pork remains the most common and least
expensive
form  of  meat, contributing more than 90% of China's total meat
production
excluding  poultry and fish. In 1949, the life expectancy in China
was only
36  years.  In  early 1980s, it has increased to 68 years. This
increase in
life  expectancy is attributed mostly to improved nutrition and
lowering of
mortality  due  to  decrease  in  infectious  diseases.  Though
population,
disease  and  mortality statistics of modern China are spotty and
sometimes
questionable, common consensus among the researchers is that since
1949 the
public health situation in China has improved tremendously.  (226
Refs.)
  Tags: Human
  Descriptors:  *Diet;  *Health  Status;  *Nutrition;  *Nutrition
Disorders
--Epidemiology--EP;   *Public  Health;  China--Epidemiology--EP;
Nutrition
Disorders--Drug Therapy--DT
 
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07201872   90108872
  Pathophysiology of favism.
  Arese P; Mannuzzu L; Turrini F
  Department  of  Genetics,  Biology  and  Medical Chemistry,
University of
Torino Medical School.
  Folia  Haematol Int Mag Klin Morphol Blutforsch (GERMANY, EAST)
1989,
116 (5) p745-52,  ISSN 0323-4347   Journal Code: F0F
  Languages: ENGLISH
  Document type: JOURNAL ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW, TUTORIAL
  JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENT: 9004
  Subfile:   INDEX MEDICUS
  Haemolytic crises occurring in G6PD-deficient individuals after
ingestion
of  fava  beans  (favism) are much less frequent than in the past.
However,
favism  is a unique natural model of oxidant damage in vivo, useful
for the
study  of  senescent  or  damaged  red  blood  cells  (RBC)
clearance from
circulation. The following aspects have been considered: 1.
Pathophysiology
of  favism,  including incidence, salient features, and sequence of
events.
2.  RBC  alterations during the haemolytic crisis: biochemical,
rheological
and morphological alterations occurring in RBC isolated at
different stages
of  the  crisis.  3.  Toxic substances of Vicia faba and their
mechanism of
action:  treatment  of G6PD-deficient RBC with divicine or
isouramil (redox
substances  present  in  fava  beans) provokes the same changes as
observed
during favism. 4. Intravascular vs. extravascular haemolysis:
extravascular
(i.e.  phagocytic)  removal  of damages RBC seems predominant in
favism. 5.
The  signal for RBC removal: in analogy with a recent model for
recognition
and  removal  of  oxidant-stressed  or senescent RBC, we propose
removal of
fava  bean  damaged  RBC be mediated by apposition of antiband 3
antibodies
and  complement  C3 fragments, recognized as non-self recognition
signal by
monocytes and macrophages.  (22 Refs.)
  Tags: Animal; Human
  Descriptors:   *Favism--Blood--BL;   Erythrocyte
Aging--Physiology--PH;
Favism--Physiopathology--PP;  Hemolysis--Physiology--PH;
Legumes--Toxicity
--TO
 
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05598546   85214546
  [Hereditary  blood  anomalies  in  the  Abruzzi  population  in
Valle del
Sangro: from hematologic genetics to the history of a population]
  Le anomalie ereditarie del sangue nella popolazione abruzzese
della valle
del Sangro: dalla genetica ematologica alla storia di una
popolazione.
  Salvati F; Pupillo M
  Minerva Med (ITALY)   Apr 28 1985,  76 (17-18) p841-6,  ISSN
0026-4806
Journal Code: N6M
  Languages: ITALIAN   Summary Languages: ENGLISH
  Document type: JOURNAL ARTICLE   English Abstract
  JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENT: 8509
  Subfile:   INDEX MEDICUS
  A   high   incidence   of   hereditary   blood   anomalies
(particularly
Pelger-Huet's congenital granulocytic anomaly and Lepore
haemoglobinopathy)
is  reported in the people of the Sangro Valley (Abruzzo, South
Italy). The
clinical,  haematological, genetic and demographic implications of
the high
incidence of these pathologies are discussed.
  Tags: Female; Human; Male
  Descriptors:     *Hemoglobinopathies--Epidemiology--EP;
*Hemoglobins,
Abnormal--Analysis--AN; *Pelger-Huet Anomaly--Epidemiology--EP;
Demography;
Ethnic  Groups;  Favism--Epidemiology--EP;   Favism--Genetics--GE;
Genetic
Markers;   Hemoglobinopathies--Genetics--GE;   Italy;  Pelger-Huet
Anomaly
--Genetics--GE;   Population  Surveillance;
Thalassemia--Epidemiology--EP;
 Thalassemia--Genetics--GE
  CAS Registry No.: 0   (Genetic Markers); 0   (Hemoglobins,
Abnormal)