STUDY CITES GENETIC VARIATION AS HIGH RISK FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE IN AFRICA

STUDY CITES  GENETIC VARIANT AS HIGH RISK FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE IN AFRICA


By Alfonso Kasongo

The first genome-wide association study on Parkinson’s disease in African populations has revealed a genetic variant that increases the risk of developing the disease.

Parkinson's disease,a disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement, often including tremors.

Published in The Lancet Neurology, the study found a new genetic risk factor in GBA1 in people of African ancestry, which has not been seen studies on European populations. The authors say it could be a significant factor underlying Parkinson's disease in African populations. 
The variant (Rs3115534-G) was found to be present in 39% of the cases assessed.

In June 2022, Zambia recorded a mysterious movement disorder affecting about 27 pupils at Lunte Technical School in Lunte district of Northern.

The condition appeared to be affecting the nervous system causing the patients to lose the firmness.
Out of the affected pupils, 15 were sent home.

Geneticist Ellen Sidransky at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) was the recipient of one of this year’s US$3-million Breakthrough prizes — the most lucrative awards in science - for her discovery of GBA1.

Although Parkinson’s disease has been extensively investigated with respect to its environmental and genetic etiology in various populations, studies on people of African ancestry are rare.

The study showed that people of African ancestry who carry one copy of the Rs3115534-G variant, located on human chromosome 1, are about 1.5 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease compared to those without it. Those who are carriers of two copies of the gene have a 3.5-fold risk.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ZAAB QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL

Image
  ZAAB QUESTIONS  GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL  By Alfonso Kasongo  A collaborative network of concerned citizens, civil society groups, faith and farmer-based organisations, working together to strengthen the growing movement for agroecology and food sovereignty has questioned government's failure to avail the proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill.  Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) maintains that controversial Bill is inappropriate for the country and must not be enacted as it aligns the country to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 standards. The Consortium fears that once proposed PBR Bill is enacted in its current form, the new seed law may trigger price increase and corporate capture of seeds, as well as  country's food system.  The Alliance argues that government through the Seed Control  Certification Institute SCCI  has never presented the actual changes and amendments in the draft PBR
Read more

ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY

Image
ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY,  ACCOUNTABILITY ...hence prone to corruption risks,posing threats against building climate change resilience, TIZ report reviews. By Alfonso Kasongo Zambia's quest to remain climate change resilient might veer off course, if gaps such as weak climate regulatory frameworks, corruption risks and lack of transparency in the management of climate financing remain unaddressed. Ànd tackling of how the country supports mitigation and adaptation to climate change remain critical to building resilience to the worst effects. Climate resilient is generally defined as successfully copying with and managing the impacts of climate change while preventing those impacts from growing worse. This year's unprecedented global temperatures and stark devastating of climate change stress the urgency requirement for Zambia and many other countries to build climate resilience, hence the need for strong regulatory framework and transparency
Read more

ZAMBIA LISTED AMONG 34 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE THAT EXPERIENCED DIGITAL AUTHORITATIVE RULE

Image
  By Alfonso Kasongo  The shutdown of internet to block access to social media during the 2021 general election has earned Zambia a slot among 34 countries worldwide that experienced digital authoritative rule last year. According to a research conducted by Keep It On ,182 internet shutdowns from 34 countries were last year recorded and are documented. Sadly 19 of the 34 countries are African countries, an indication of the return of the digital authoritatism. The report  discloses that the Zambian authorities shutdown the Internet during the the tight 2021 general election to block access to social media platforms which  include among others WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   The report however ,suggests that the country experienced digital authoritative rule which undermined the democracy of the country.    It further notes with pleasure that the shut down was fought swiftly by Chapter One Foundation through the court of law and that the High  Court ruling remains a precede
Read more