[ExI] Ashkenazi Longevity was Re: The Catholic Impact (was Re: Origin of ethics and morals)

[Ilia Stambler]

 > "3) Beyond that early intermarriage, we're really inbred!"




I am wondering whether the inbreeding generally had anything to do with
this increasing longevity.



Here is for example what has been reported about seed beetles (thought
there have been conflicting data on other species of insects and animals,
i.e. unlike in this case, showing that inbreeding generally decreases
longevity):



“Inbreeding can unexpectedly extend male lifespan. Insect experiments
described in the open access journal *BMC Evolutionary
Biology<http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcevolbiol/>
* have shown that, in seed beetles, inbreeding causes males to live longer,
while shortening female lifespan.”



http://www.biomedcentral.com/presscenter/pressreleases/20090204



I am an Ashkenazi Israeli myself, so I hope I won’t be suspected in any
politically incorrectness, or any other malice. Just trying to figure it
out...



Ilia

On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 7:30 AM, PJ Manney <pjmanney at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 3:59 PM, The Avantguardian
> <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I didn't know you were Ashkenazi. Lucky you. One thing that *is* an
> Ashkenazi genetic trait is long life expectancies. The Ashkenazi weigh in
> with one of the highest rates of survival into the centenarian age
> category. I once met a researcher who claims that one of the reasons for
> this is that the lipid-micelles i.e. HDL and LDL cholelesterol particles in
> the blood of Ashkenazi patients are of larger diameter on average than in
> the overall population, and therefore more resistant to oxidation by
> free-radicals. He has found a genetic linkage to the I405V allele variant
> of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene. Here is a link to
> what I think is his work:
> >
> >
> http://www.cenegenicsfoundation.org/library/library_files/Unique_lipoprotein_phenotype_and_genotype_associated_with_exceptional_longevity.pdf
>
> Sadly, not all Ashkenazim have two copies of the variant necessary.
> According to 23 and Me, I only carry one copy, which they imply does
> not confer the same extreme longevity, but perhaps moderate increases.
>  I'll just have to take extra good care of myself...  ;-)
>
> > Almost makes up for Tay-Sachs disease in the gene pool no? But more
> relevant to your previous discussion is the question can you think of any
> historical selective pressures for this trait to have evolved? For example
> do Ashkenazi women typically wait longer before having their first child
> relative to other ethnic groups?
>
> I'm happy I'm not a Tay-Sachs carrier.  To be fair, historically the
> odds are low: 1 in 30 are carriers.  Millions have been screened
> through genetic testing since the 1970s.  All women of specific
> religious/cultural/national descents are strongly urged by their
> Ob-Gyns in the State of California to have a Tay-Sachs test.  In
> Orthodox communities, everyone is checked in high school and some
> potential marriages have been canceled based on the partners' carrier
> status!  While I could check 'yes' to all the ethnic and national
> high-risk groups (except French-Canadian, who carry a different
> mutation), I do not carry the gene.  So my children will not have it
> either and won't have to be worried.  Because of the all the screening
> in the Jewish community, Tay-Sachs has been virtually eradicated --
> there hasn't been a new case since 2003.  The only Tay-Sachs cases
> that still pop up come from the French Canadian and Cajun communities.
>
> However, the pressure on our gene pool to produce diseases like
> Tay-Sachs and other lipid storage mutations seems to be from a founder
> effect: random genetic drift from a larger population exacerbated by
> inbreeding in a smaller population.  When you're always marrying your
> local cousins, mutations are bound to happen.  But even with the
> inbreeding, it's amazing how few diseases have really come about in
> that population.  We just think Ashkenazim have more diseases, because
> they're the most studied founder group in medical history and we're
> looking for them.
>
> PJ
>
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