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
2/L/1
DIALOG(R)File 154:MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 1995 Knight-Ridder Info. All rts. reserv.
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
2/L/2
DIALOG(R)File 154:MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 1995 Knight-Ridder Info. All rts. reserv.
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
2/L/3
DIALOG(R)File 154:MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 1995 Knight-Ridder Info. All rts. reserv.
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
2/L/4
DIALOG(R)File 154:MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 1995 Knight-Ridder Info. All rts. reserv.
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)
