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Grex > Femme > #144: Advantages of being female | |
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| 25 new of 51 responses total. |
keesan
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response 6 of 51:
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Feb 28 18:53 UTC 2003 |
Females are much less likely to have hemophilia because it is X-linked. Men
with hemophilia don't generally live long enough to pass it along. A female
would need two bad copies of the gene and is unlikely to get more than one
(from a mother who is a carrier). We are learning about this in connection
with a relative of Jim's who got born with an extra chromosome (his mother
is not a carrier for this) and also hemophilia (she IS a carrier and now has
to worry even more about whether to have a second child).
Most of the adult hemophiliacs died of AIDS before a better test was developed
for donors. The younger hemophiliacs can now be treated with something that
is injected into them three times a week at $1000 per shot. No wonder the
costs of insurance keep going up. If you get this treatment, you don't need
the transfusions.
Women are on average healthier than men because of X-linked disease. Usually
having just one copy of a bad gene does not affect you much (unless the bad
gene produces something bad for you instead of just not producing anything
at all - dominant instead of recessive).
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jmsaul
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response 7 of 51:
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Feb 28 20:40 UTC 2003 |
Actually, women with hemophilia -- meaning homozygotes, those who got the
trait from both sides and have the symptoms -- die faster than men with it
do. They don't survive puberty. (At least that's what I learned in Genetics
in undergrad.)
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keesan
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response 8 of 51:
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Mar 1 00:18 UTC 2003 |
How did their fathers survive puberty without any good copies?
This particular hemophiliac will not have any kids - a side effect of the
extra chromosome.
What other diseases are sex-linked, or at least more common in men? I think
there is some hormonal protection against heart problems in women.
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jmsaul
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response 9 of 51:
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Mar 1 01:00 UTC 2003 |
Men don't menstruate, so hemophiliac men can survive past puberty. Some do
not (I don't know what the percentage is), but they don't have a built in time
bomb the way women do. Some reproduce.
Many conditions are sex-linked -- Fragile X, for example. Hemophilia is just
the best known one.
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keesan
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response 10 of 51:
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Mar 1 01:23 UTC 2003 |
It seems pretty irresponsible to reproduce with that sort of gene in you.
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jmsaul
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response 11 of 51:
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Mar 1 01:45 UTC 2003 |
Sindi, most people aren't as... dispassionate as you are.
But even so, consider: the children of a male hemophiliac and a female normal
will be male normals (for the kid to be male, the father has to pass the Y)
and female carriers. In other words, none of them will have the symptoms.
Granted, if the mother is a carrier, half of the male kids and all of the
female kids are screwed. But you can test for that.
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jiffer
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response 12 of 51:
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Mar 1 04:51 UTC 2003 |
If you think about it, every time you reproduce you are playing russion
roulette with what genes you are passing on to your children. So, I don't
think it is irresponsible to reproduce when you know that there is also a
chance that you can have a healthy child that will grow to adulthood.
Benefits of being female, is the power you can sometimes hold over men...
every sexist but reversable as well.
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jmsaul
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response 13 of 51:
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Mar 1 15:11 UTC 2003 |
Actually, I agree with her on the hemophilia gene. I was just pointing out
why the parents might not. With certain genetic conditions, I think it *is*
irresponsible to have a kid (unless you have a way to test the fetus) because
of the kind of life the kid could have.
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keesan
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response 14 of 51:
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Mar 1 16:13 UTC 2003 |
Half of the male children of a female carrier will be hemophiliac - is it
responsible to have female children if you are a male hemophiliac? Or male
children if you are a carrier? Jim's relative, who did not want to have her
fetus tested for Down syndrome because she is Catholic, is unlikely to want
to have the sex of her next child (if any) tested. If a boy, 50% chance of
being hemophiliac. If girl, 50% chance of being a carrier.
What happens to hemophiliacs who don't have insurance that will pay $3000 a
week for treatment?
Is there a way to test for hemophilia in a fetus?
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glenda
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response 15 of 51:
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Mar 1 18:53 UTC 2003 |
It is not a given that half of the male children of a female carrier will have
hemophilia, it is just a mathematical possibility that half will. Genetics
is a bit of a crap shoot and there is also the chance that the eggs with the
bad gene won't be fertilized. It is the luck of the draw.
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keesan
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response 16 of 51:
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Mar 1 22:31 UTC 2003 |
On average half. Statistically half.
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happyboy
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response 17 of 51:
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Mar 8 18:01 UTC 2003 |
re14: the downs test (alpha feto protein):
refusing the test doesn't always have anything to do
with being *catholic* (your bigotry is showing)
1 out of 10 tested produce abnormal results, for every 100 of
those abnormal results 2 or 3 actually have birth defects
for every abnormal test they order an amniocentesis.
1 per 200 - 400 results in a miscarriage caused by the amnio
test. (american baby magazine, this months issue, i think...)
shitty odds for
a shitty test i guess. (shrug)
there are also false negatives
would the *catholic* in question be likely
to abort in the case of a positive test anyway?
gosh...i hope that didn't come across as being *dispassionate*
:)
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jmsaul
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response 18 of 51:
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Mar 8 18:35 UTC 2003 |
Hang on, the Down's test basically doesn't work? That SUCKS.
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happyboy
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response 19 of 51:
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Mar 8 18:56 UTC 2003 |
that's pretty much what i've been hearing, yep.
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jmsaul
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response 20 of 51:
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Mar 9 04:48 UTC 2003 |
Alrighty then, no pregnancies for us, ever. My wife is 35. (Not that we were
planning to yet, but if we had, we would have gotten the test for sure. If
it doesn't work, then we won't take the chance.)
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happyboy
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response 21 of 51:
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Mar 9 09:44 UTC 2003 |
wow...35? THAT'S OLD!!! shucks...my wife is only 33.
how much you & your wife wanna have a kid, joe?
lemme put it this way...are the chances of you guys having a
downer a hell of alot greater than your chances of getting some
form of cancer in the next couple of years?
don't let the AMA bully you.
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slynne
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response 22 of 51:
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Mar 9 17:30 UTC 2003 |
I have always liked every person I have ever met with Down's syndrome,
fwiw. My Dad has a cousin with Down's syndrome. The last time he saw
him, he was talking to him about his work. I guess he works in a
factory or something and due to a mistake he made, he was forced to
take a different job there, one he would only describe as a "sit down
job". My Dad said that he looked over to his other cousin (a university
professor) and said "I have a sit down job, how about you?" Then they
both got lots of sympathy from the cousin with Downs.
I like being a woman because in our culture, women are allowed a much
greater range of emotional expression and I think such expression is
healthy.
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jmsaul
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response 23 of 51:
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Mar 9 17:56 UTC 2003 |
They may be nice, but I sure don't want one as a kid. I'm not criticizing
people who are fine with that, just making a personal statement.
Re #21: When you're evaluating a risk, you look both at the chance of it
happening -- which is what you're talking about -- and at how bad
the result would be if it did happen. *To me*, having a child with
Down's would be an extremely bad result. I realize it isn't
politically correct to say that, but it's the way I feel.
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happyboy
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response 24 of 51:
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Mar 9 20:08 UTC 2003 |
fair enough.
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slynne
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response 25 of 51:
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Mar 9 21:24 UTC 2003 |
*shrug* I dont understand that feeling. But hey, I know people who have
decided they dont want kids because they hate vomit. I dont quite
understand that either but doesnt really matter what I think about
other people's choices not to have kids.
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edina
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response 26 of 51:
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Mar 11 15:10 UTC 2003 |
Advantage to being a woman - they get off on crimes or receive lighter
sentences.
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maryeliz
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response 27 of 51:
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Mar 11 15:35 UTC 2003 |
#26- Amen to that!
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remmers
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response 28 of 51:
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Mar 11 23:44 UTC 2003 |
Are you fine ladies speaking from personal experience?
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mary
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response 29 of 51:
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Mar 12 00:56 UTC 2003 |
There are females and then there are women.
Pogo was right.
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maryeliz
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response 30 of 51:
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Mar 12 03:15 UTC 2003 |
Re #28- no i am not speaking from personal experience.
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