Effects of consanguineous marriages on morbidity and precocious mortality: Genetic counseling

✍ Scribed by Freire-Maia, Newton ;Opitz, John M.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 371 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-7299
• DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.1320180307

✦ Synopsis

The excess risks of morbidity and precocious mortality for the offspring of incestuous matings and of matings of uncles-nieces and aunts-nephews, first cousins, first cousins once removed, and second cousins have been estimated as 32 % , 18 % , 9 % , 5 % , and 2.5 % , respectively. These estimates are based on the theory of , assuming a damage (genetic and nongenetic) of 20 % for the offspring of nonconsanguineous couples and two "deleterious" equivalents per gamete. Other possibilities (a damage of 40%; 2.5 deleterious equivalents per gamete), a partition of the total risk into prenatal and postnatal events, and some aspects of the inbreeding theory are also presented. Comments intended for persons interested in counseling are provided.