Melungeon Health

The Melungeon Health Education and Support Network

HELLO!

I am Nancy Sparks Morrison, Co-author of the Sparks Genealogy Web Site at:
http://SparksGenealogy.net

ALL HEALTH INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE FOLLOWS A RECENT REPORT ON THE PROBLEMS WITH CURRENT MELUNGEON RESEARCH. IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED, SIMPLY SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO REACH THE HEALTH ISSUES:

To any Melungeon researcher:
Approximately 50 people have hi-jacked ALL Melungeon research, calling it their own and refusing to listen to anyone who has conflicting views.

Wherever possible, the owners of lists concerning Melungeons have restricted their membership to those folks who agree with their statements and have refused to allow any statements other than approved ones to be on their lists. Their stated purpose is to limit their lists to people who support the aims of the list and who are in tune with its philosophy, thus insuring that any IDEA in variance with these aims will never be heard by their membership. Doesn't this sound 'funny' to you? Isn't something similar going on in Texas today?

Some members of these specific lists have been unsubbed from the lists without notification. This also closes the archives of these lists to the view of anyone having an opposing position. What is all the secrecy about? Is there something shameful going on that we should know about and that they don't want known?

Even the Melungeon message board at rootsweb has been taken over by this small group and I feel it is quite likely that my message there will be deleted shortly, so I am placing this on several Melungeon blogs as well. It will remain on the net for folks to find.

I firmly DISAGREE with much of what has been written in the last few months on boards such as the rootsweb one, excepting certain proven documents from the past. I firmly believe that Melungeon research should NOT be quashed by folks who have determined that ONLY the people that they WANT to be Melungeons or descendants can post to this or any list without them posting e-mails with all sorts of complaints, ridicule, nasty words etc. I FIRMLY disagree that the reputations of researchers who are unable because of disability to defend their work should be ruined by POLITICAL debate of something that happened after WW I that has been ongoing in Melungeon research at the present.

I have as much right to research and disseminate Melungeon data as anyone else. Yet, I am talked about both behind my back and to my face. I am dismissed from Melungeon research according to this SMALL group of approx. 50 people and made fun of. They deny any possible health issues of Melungeon descendants while hundreds of them die or live miserably from health issues that can easily be controlled ONCE THEY ARE KNOWN. I have e-mails from many people including doctors and researchers, thanking me for placing this site on the internet. All of them can not be wrong. SOME but not all Melungeon descendants and their families have been found to have these health problems.

This affects me, but it also affects hundreds of other folks who would LIKE to know about their Melungeon descended families, possible health issues and more, and yet they are afraid to post simply because of what they have seen posted by a VERY FEW of the most vocal of this group of restrictive Melungeon researchers.

The beliefs of this small group of researchers about Melungeons are racist, restrictive, and in my own personal opinion they try to deny anything other than European and Native American ancestry. While I would like to unify people, they divide.

If you do not like such tactics, I invite you to join my Melungeon mailing list where folks are friendly, many origins, and genealogies are discussed along with culture, history, dna, and more. There is NO fighting, NO arguments on my list. It is active, different everyday and highly interesting. Please send an e-mail to:
Melungeons-subscribe@topica.com

ONE HUNDRED and SIXTY-NINE Melungeon and associated websites:
http://melungeonhealth.org/websites.html

A Melungeon mailing list that is family friendly - send an e-mail to:
Melungeons-subscribe@topica.com

Fibromyalgia in YOUR family? Inherited? Maybe!!
Causes of Fibromyalgia
http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/CFS/fib_causes_nancy.htm

Sparks Genealogy: http://SparksGenealogy.net
(Select: Index/Nancy's Corner/The Melungeon Connection)
(Select: Index/The Melungeon Media Release)

This Melungeon Health Site is dedicated to the health of
ALL Melungeons descendants.

If there are illnesses that seem to run throughout your family,
you MAY find help here.

For more information on the Melungeons themselves, Click Here. Note that you will be leaving the health page, so use your back button to return here.

You can also find Nancy's Melungeon Research Blog containing articles of importance to Melungeon researchers on the following site:

http://journals.aol.com/nmorri3924/MelungeonResearch/

Click on VIEW ARCHIVES for a listing of the articles.

Or to go straight to the Archives, click here!

A NEW MELUNGEON MAILING List where you can search for Melungeon family connections in a family like, caring atmosphere of supportive members:

Subscribe!

Enter your email to join Melungeons today!

I am not a doctor. I can neither diagnose nor prescribe. I am a lay person, who because of my own personal health problems, has done extensive research on some Mediterranean illnesses which seem to run throughout my Melungeon connected families. The information that I am providing here is to be used for educational purposes only. It should not be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes. Here is an overview of the four major medical problems that some Melungeon descendants inherit.

Behçet's SYNDROME is a relapsing, multi-system inflammatory disease in which there are oral/genital ulcers. There may be inflammation of the eyes, joints, blood vessels, central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract involvement. Attacks last about a week to a month and reoccur spontaneously. Onset is usually between 20-30 years of age with symptoms ocurring up to several years after the onset. Twice as many men as women are affected. There is a genetic predisposition with autoimmune mechanism and viral infection which may all play a part. Related disorders are Reiters Syndrome, Stevens Johnson Syndrome, and Ulcerative Colitis.

FAMILIAL MEDITERRANEAN FEVER is a hereditary genetically restricted disease commonly found among Jews originating from North African countries, Armenians, Turks and Arabs. Closely following the pattern of autosomal recessive inheritance (both parents must carry a recessive gene) , FMF is recognized by two independent manifestations: 1.) acute, short-lived painful, bouts of stomach pain, (may be followed by diarrhea); pleuritis, an inflammation of the lining of the body cavities, and/or some of its internal organs, which in its acute stage may produce, stabbing pain in the side or
affected cavity, possible fever of 101-103 degrees, similar to gallbladder/kidney stone attacks/inflammation, and short, dry cough and body pain similar to arthritis and fibromyalgia and 2.) nephropathic amyloidosis, which can lead to terminal renal failure even at a young age. In half of the people this disease appears before age ten. The gene for FMF is located on the short arm of chromosome 16, yet the exact nature of the disease remains unclear. Foggy-headedness (inability to think clearly) may also be a part of the symptoms because of inflammation of the brain lining which causes the brain to swell. Fatigue (severe) can also be a problem. Infertility and pregnancy loss in women with FMF is much more common than it is in the general population.

The identification of FMF is based on clinical findings, family history, physical examination and laboratory results obtained from patients experiencing attacks. No specific diagnostic test is available. There are four gene mutations that cause FMF. The genes have been identified and this should lead to the development of a blood test to identify the disease in people. Amyloidosis affects most untreated FMF patients. In its early stage it can be recognized by protein in the urine.

The medicine colchicine which comes from a plant that grows in the Mediterranean and is also used to treat gout is effective in controlling this disease. Colchicine treatment was first introduced in 1973 and in a dose of 1-2 mg/day on a continuous basis, has been found to prevent attacks in most patients and amyloidosis in all patients. Colchicine treatment has been shown to be safe and entirely suitable for FMF patients. Many FMF patients appear to be getting diagnoses of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Familial Mediterranean Fever, long-mysterious, has now yielded up its secrets. The cause is a lack of pyrin, a neutrophil protein which slows down neutrophils when enough have reached an area (Hosp. Pract. 33: 131, April 15, 1998.) Lacking pyrin, neutrophils mob body cavities every once in a while. In addition to fever, patients may have pleuritis, arthritis, peritonitis, and/or a hot rash (looks like a strep infection) on the ankles. Colchicine, famous for its ability to slow down neutrophils (as in acute gout), controls the attacks and prevents the dread complication of secondary amyloidosis. As you can imagine, FMF can mimic most diseases. "Don't miss it".
http://www.pathguy.com/lectures/spleen.htm#introMolecular genetic diagnosis: Ann. Int. Med. 129: 539, 1998.

SARCOIDOSIS is a disorder which affects many body systems. In recent years new data on Sarcoidosis, which was once considered a rare disease, shows that it is a common chronic illness that appears all over the world. It is now thought to be the most common of the fibrotic lung disorders, and occurs often enough in the United States for Congress to have declared a national Sarcoidosis Awareness Day in 1990.

While it was once thought to indicate Mediterranean or African origins, further research has concluded that this is incorrect. Anyone can get sarcoidosis. It occurs in all races and in both sexes. Onset is usually between 20 and 40 years and the risk is greater if you are a young black adult, especially a black woman, or of Scandinavian, German, Irish, or Puerto Rican origin. No one knows why. This illness is also being found among SOME Melungeon descendants.

New research estimates that today about 5 in 100,000 white people in the United States have sarcoidosis. And among black people, it occurs more frequently. The rate is thought to be 40 out of 100,000 people. We can but guess at how many people are affected. White women are just as likely as white men to get sarcoidosis, but the black female gets sarcoidosis twice as often as the black male. Some scientists believe that these figures greatly underestimate the percentage of sarcoidosis patients in America.

Sarcoidosis is characterized by small round lesions of granulation tissue. The ones I have seen are about the size of a quarter and flat. Symptoms may vary with the severity of the disease. Fever, weight loss, joint pain, with liver involvement and enlarged lymph nodes are common. Cough and difficulty in breathing may occur. Skin disease marked by tender red nodules with fever and joint pain is a frequent manifestation. Sarcoidosis can escape diagnosis or be mistaken for several other diseases.

While no direct research has been done at present on the involvement of Melungeon ancestry with sarcoidosis, we might expect that our involvement lies somewhere between the white and black estimates since our ancestry is mixed. I also found information that shows that there appears to be 20 cases per 100,000 in cities on the EAST coast and somewhat fewer in rural locations, but no data on whether or not it is found in the mid-west or west. Some pockets of sarcoidosis are being found in the Appalachian Mts of NC/VA/KY/TN/WV and more research will be needed to see exactly what this means.

Thalassemia major, also called Cooley’s Anemia after the doctor who identified the illness in the 1920s, is the most severe. Thalassemia major is a rare blood disorder characterized by a marked increase in F hemoglobin and a decrease in the production of certain oxygen carrying proteins in red blood cells. It is the most severe form of the chronic familial anemias that result from the premature destruction of red blood cells. Cooley’s anemia patients often die of heart failure or other complications in their 20s or 30s. Although they usually appear fine at birth, children with Cooley’s anemia eventually develop symptoms such as fatigue, slow growth patterns, shortness of breath, jaundice, spleen enlargement and bone deformities.

Another type of Thalassemia is designated Alpha Thalassemia. Some people do not produce enough alpha protein which causes them to have alpha-thalassemia. It is commonly found in Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, southern China, and occasionally the Mediterranean region. There are seven types of alpha thalassemias that range from mild to severe in their effect on the body.

Some people who do not produce enough beta protein have Beta-Thalassemia. It is found in people of Mediterranean descent; such as Italians and Greeks, and is also found in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Africa, Southeast Asia, and southern China. There are three types of beta-thalassemia that also range from mild to severe in their effects on the body.

In addition to the thalassemias mentioned above, there are other related disorders that occur when the abnormal gene for alpha or beta-thalassemia combines with another abnormal or mutant globulin gene.

In E. Beta Thalassemia, there is a hemoglobin E which is one of the most common abnormal hemoglobins. It is usually found in people of Southeast Asian ancestry, such as Cambodians, Vietnamese and Thai. When combined with the beta thalassemia trait, Hemoglobin E produces E. Beta Thalassemia, a moderately severe anemia which has similar symptoms to Beta Thalassemia Intermedia.

There is also a Sickle Beta Thalassemia. Sickle Beta is caused by a combination of beta thalassemia trait and the Hemoglobin S trait, the abnormal hemoglobin found in people with Sickle Cell Disease. It is commonly found in people of Mediterranean ancestry, such as Italians, Greeks, Turks, and in people from the Caribbean. The severity of Sickle Beta varies according to the amount of normal beta globin produced by the beta gene. When there is no beta globin produced by the beta gene, the condition is almost identical with Sickle Cell Disease. The more beta globin produced by the beta gene, the less severe the condition.

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