Genetic /other disorders high among Arab population

After quite a long time I have decided to write about something serious and that has absolutely nothing to do with me. I know it might sound boring, but I have been thinking about this particular topic a lot mainly because I found that there are a lot of genetic or that kind of related disorders among the Arab population and it’s very alarming to find it at such a high rate in a small country like Kuwait.

Ok I certainly am not an expert on this topic, nor have I done much research into it and I certainly cannot claim that this is 100% correct because it’s just an observation made from a normal human being like me and I certainly am no doctor. I certainly am not hurting anyone’s feeling, patriotism and such in the long run as this is just based on some firsthand information that I received.

Once I found out about this common occurrence of disorders among the citizens here, I started looking it up in the internet and also talked to a few Kuwaiti friends and they told me that there is an alarmingly high rate of disorders like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders); ADD (Attention Deficit Disorders); MS (Multiple Sclerosis); Autism; Dyslexia etc among their people… Another set of common medical problems that I have found among the Kuwaitis are – Diabetics, Obesity and various forms of Cancer (Lung, mouth and breast cancer being the most common).

Some facts that I know for sure are – I do know many Kuwaitis who suffer from ADHD, ADD, Autism, MS etc and since every other person I see seems to be suffering from obesity and diabetics I cannot tell that it’s a huge thing anymore. But I certainly would like to know why the above said are common among the Arab population.

I did some more reading up on it and found that one common cause that most researchers, sites say is that: Inbreeding is the most common cause of genetic disorder among Arab population. Well, since the practice of interfamily marriage is still relatively common among Arabs because of the structure of the Arabic society I guess that sure seems to be the main reason. But I guess they don’t have much of a choice when it comes to marriages as they have limited options to choose from and unlike India which has a huge population, Kuwait does not have such a variety to choose from :P

MS seems to be common among the women and ADHD/ADD is now common among the children. I guess obesity and diabetics must be mainly due to the life style, the kind of food they consume and so on. But one thing we do have to note is that the younger generation has become very conscious about health and body weight and so on and I know so many who are so adamant about going to the gym to be in shape. I guess the change is mostly due to their exposure to the western countries and growing education levels and so on. Another fact that has to be noted is that most of them are marrying foreigners too (even though it’s for various other reasons). I guess that will certainly reduce the common occurrence of such problems.

I do guess that a lot of publicity has to be given into this matter so that people take more notice of these facts and try and do something to get a healthier next generation. A lot of programs have to be conducted to create the necessary awareness and it has to be targeted at all sections of society so that the message reaches all. I do know that the government and other agencies have started doing a good work towards this and there were several campaigns about breast cancer awareness, awareness about the harmful effects of smoking and so on. I just hope that the good works goes on a much stronger note.

Wow, more reading up seems to have confused me and now I am hearing about new disorders and stuff. I just went through another study which showed another set of common disorders seen in Kuwait and they are:
•The Bardet-Biedl syndrome - which is a ciliopathic human genetic disorder that produces many effects and affects many body systems. It is characterized principally by obesity, retinitis pigmentosa, polydactyly, mental retardation, hypogonadism, and renal failure in some cases.
•Laurence-Moon syndrome - is a rare hereditary condition associated with retinitis pigmentosa, spastic paraplegia, hypogonadism and mental retardation.
•Meckel syndrome - (also known as Meckel-Gruber Syndrome, Gruber Syndrome, Dysencephalia Splanchnocystica) is a rare, lethal, ciliopathic, genetic disorder, characterized by renal cystic dysplasia, central nervous system malformations, and hepatic developmental defects.
•Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) - is a severe recessive X-linked form of muscular dystrophy characterized by rapid progression of muscle degeneration, eventually leading to loss of ambulation and death. This affliction affects one in 3500 males, making it the most prevalent of muscular dystrophies. In general, only males are afflicted, though females can be carriers.
•Phenylketonuria (PKU)- is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by a deficiency in the hepatic enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). This enzyme is necessary to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine to the amino acid tyrosine.

And I guess I better stop about new diseases and their meanings as this is no medical blog or encyclopedia… (Courtesy of explanation about the above diseases from Wikipedia and images from google images)
I guess by now I would have managed to confuse many of you with this post, but I just wanted to write about it ever since I have known about these facts…

Dust storms

It’s been several days since I have even checked my blog and I miss reading through the regular blogs that I usually do look into on a daily basis. I know that I do keep telling myself that I should blog regularly, write on a regular basis and so on. It’s just that whenever I get this great mood to work and when I get ideas, I am nowhere near my computer. :(

Anyway, here is another post and it’s nothing interesting. This is something about the stupid dust and dust storms that are frequent in Kuwait, especially during summer.



Usually Kuwait does not have dust storms during winter, but this winter we had dust storms because it did not rain much. So because of the lack of rains, it’s predicted that Kuwait will have the worst case of dust storms this summer and it will be a regular kind of affair.

Ohh do not think that it’s nothing or ask questions like – ya its dust, what’s the big deal etc. These things are definitely a big deal here coz it disrupts life so much. Half the country ends up at the hospital with allergies and breathing problems, flights get re-routed, stranded, ports close down till the weather clears, more accidents on the road because of the zero visibility status, most houses and offices get filled with dust due to which half the time will be spent trying to clean up the mess, the itchy feeling it causes and what not!!!

Believe me it’s a royal pain in the wrong place. :(

Last Friday I went to a lot of trouble to clean up the whole house and by the end of the day I couldn’t walk a step coz of the over strain I had put myself through. And after that I was feeling so light and happy coz I felt that the house is so clean and all, but ya the nature was definitely plotting against me. Yesterday Kuwait had another bl**** dust storm, but I do have to say that because it decided to rain by afternoon, the dust settled down fast and it definitely became cold and chilly again. If it hadn’t rained/drizzled the damn dust would have been there for 2 or three days.

Ohh boy! Just thinking about going through this as a regular procedure through the summer is enough to put me into a deep state of depression. I hate the itchy feeling that I will have and all we can do is taste and smell dust the whole time and that doesn’t help you to get any sleep too as all we can do is smell dust in our sleep too.

Below I have given a copy of the news related to the dust storm and I have put in photos that I got from the internet and also from the Al Watan Daily newspaper.

KUWAIT: Mar 10, 2009 (AFP) - A blinding dust storm hit Kuwait on Tuesday, halting oil exports and forcing the closure of the Gulf emirate's three ports besides disrupting air traffic, officials said. Winds blowing at a speed of up to 60 kilometres (38 miles) an hour reduced visibility to less than 300 metres (yards) at Kuwait airport and less than 150 meters at ports. "We have halted oil exports until weather conditions improve," Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC).

Issam al-Zamel, head of operations at the civil aviation authority, told the KUNA (Kuwait news agency) that incoming planes were facing difficulty landing. Scheduled flights out of Kuwait were still taking off by early afternoon. The meteorological department was forecasting the dust storm would continue until Wednesday. Kuwait has had virtually no rain for the third winter in a row, making desert sand loose and easily carried by strong north-westerly winds. Dust storms are rare in winter but common in summer when the temperature hits 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).

Well i guess all of you saw the photos! Thahats how its during a dust storm and sometimes there is the red dust storm and sometimes that whitish one...Both are a pain anyway, and its in that climate that everyone has to get to work and get on with their lives!!!

Conditions bad for the labour class

Yesterday night after getting off work I went with my dad to meet a guy who he was supposed to meet urgently. I decided to wait in the car while he went for the meeting and that’s when the mood to write struck me.

Since I (certainly) knew that the mood would vanish in a few seconds, I pulled out a pen and small book and started to jot down what all came to my mind. I got into that deep mood of writing which I rarely get into and that’s when suddenly it was all disrupted.

All I remember was that I was busy writing and suddenly the whole vehicle was shaking and all… “I was like what the hell is going on?” and lifted up my head to look around. That’s when I saw that a van which was turning had come and hit our vehicle from behind. I was furious and ya it was a late reaction too anyway, but I did gesture to the guy asking what his bloody problem was and all that.

I put away all the writing materials and jumped out of the vehicle to check if there was any serious damage and gestured to him to wait as he was a typical Arab guy and I couldn’t communicate with him properly. I then called up dad and told him to come and deal with the situation and waited for him to come. Ya he did come and deal with the situation and told the guy to go as he dint think the damage was a big problem :P…. Anyway that’s not the point, that’s it the mood to write certainly had vanished in an instant!!!

Anyway, since I had jotted down a few things about what to write and all here goes the post:

Life is not easy and the global financial crisis has certainly not made things any better for anyone. Kuwait which certainly has been a safe haven for many is not so anymore. Many companies which thought that they wouldn’t be affected by the crisis have been hit hard. Anyway I really can’t tell that is the serious issue here.

The main issue is that – The driver who provides me with transportation to and from my office told me yesterday morning that he wouldn’t be able to pick me up after work in the evening as he and most other drivers (who work on a contract basis for the Ministry of Health) from his company had decided to forego work on that particular day which is one of the busiest days for them.

Now to understand about this situation, you do have to know the background details. This driver works for a particular company which supplies/provides all the hospitals in Kuwait which are under the Ministry of Health with cars along with the drivers. They also do provide vehicles with drivers to various other departments in the governmental sector on a contract basis (details unknown to me).

This company charges the government for the services provide and I really have to say that the government always pays the bills ON TIME. But the company has not been paying these drivers correctly and my driver told me that it’s been four months since he got his salary, hence the strike or decision to not work yesterday.

I was asking him about the details today and that’s when he told me that the government for example pays the company around 170 to 190 Kuwaiti dinars (KD) for the driver and the cars per month. But the company pays these drivers KD 40 per month if they are doing a single shift and if they work a double shift they are paid 70 KD. From this amount they have to pay their rent, buy food, send money home, and buy petrol for the car and so on.

I was quite shocked to hear that they had to pay for the petrol out of their own pocket as I felt that it’s unfair. (Ya I know that petrol is cheap here, but still it’s a problem for the labourers who get paid such a small amount per month.) He was also telling me that if the vehicle meets with an accident or if there is any repair work, he has to take it to the company garage where they always charge around KD 200 and this amount is accounted for by cutting from their salary every month.

I really cannot understand why people do such things. Yes the company does get its payment on time and it does make some profit, so why can’t they pay their workers the small amount? How will these people live without that small amount? Don’t they need food and water to survive? Ya life certainly is not fair, but still people should keep up the basic ethical and moral standards.

One thing I am really happy about is that the hospitals were able to understand the situation and when drivers’ didn’t turn up in any of the hospitals yesterday, they met with the company and asked for explanations and levied a fine. This resulted in the company asking the drivers to go back to work and promised that the salary would be paid by the end of this month.

Another problem that these drivers were facing was that most of their visas were getting over or were already over and the company had not renewed them even after the drivers made several payments for this. So the uncertainty of their job situations was the added reason for their protest and the company promised to get that also done within the week.

Well I do hope that all this will work out for the better rather than things getting out of control. I guess we have to wait and see how things go and what actions are taken…

Crime rates uppp!!!!

It’s almost the end of the month and I still haven’t written anything as I have been too busy and too lazy to write anything…. I know that’s not good… Lately I have been feeling all depressed and all pissed off too. Anyway forget that and let me get into the topic I wanted to tell about rather than wandering off yet again :)

Ever since I started doing the Local pages for the news paper that I work with, I have also been handling a column which deals crime news etc and we call it ‘Law& Order’. Well from doing so many of that on a daily basis I do know that the crime rate has gone up (gone sky rocketing!!!) and people still are not the least bit bothered.

Well I cannot blame them too I guess because it’s come to a point where I too don’t care anymore. I just edit and rewrite the whole thing without even taking the whole article into any consideration since by the end of the day all I want to do is to hand it in so that I can finish the pages and it’s only another story for me and one which I just work on to make it more readable and stuff.

Ok now one of the many things that did strike me was that the rape, molestation, sexual abuses etc. against Filipino women are way too high and it’s not at all news anymore and people hardly think that it’s a crime.

I certainly do have the feeling that the Arab men think that it’s their right to have any Filipino woman (or any woman I guess), but in particular this particular nationality. So many cases of kidnapping and raping them or the cheating cases and all have come up regularly and the Filipino maids too are being abused at a very high rate.(OK I am not telling that all Arab men are like that...)

Now why is this happening? Why do men here feel that it’s their right to abuse women and think that they are enjoying this? What is the world and this community coming to? I have a colleague at work who did write a feature about the Arab men and their cheating issue and in most responses that she got and from what I read, it was understood that they think it’s their right and it’s alright to cheat on their wives.
Most women too do know that the husbands cheat or will cheat, but many are ok with it as they don’t want to create any problems and they feel it’s the way of life. What an attitude right???

Here’s an interesting incident which happened: I used to have a colleague at office who joined with us some time back and he is a young and ok looking guy I guess (and handsome to Arab females’ maybe). Anyway, during a conference he did bring his wife and we happened to meet her. Later when we came to know about the birth of his little kid we all held a small party at office and did give gifts and stuff too and he did bring the kid to office too.

After some time, some of us were transferred to a new company and I did'nt keep in touch much with anyone specially since he spoke Arabic only and communication was a big problem. Anyway the interesting issue is that around 3 months back we had a new girl join us at work and she is very young and smart and all that. Next thing I know is that this guy kept calling her from the other office and stuff and then kept asking her about going out and stuff and he even gave the (usual)sob story – “I was engaged earlier, but that relationship broke. Now I am a free man, I am also heartbroken… I am a very rich man...My family is very very rich...blah blah blah….”

Well can you believe that?? Well the idiot at least has to think that we all know that he is married and has kids na? So the next time he came to office one of my colleagues asked him about his wife and kids and this new girl heard about that but acted as though she didn’t hear anything. It’s a few days later when he called again to ask her out that she told me about all the stuff that’s been happening and how he keeps asking her out and stuff. I was shocked for sure...The idiot who brought his wife around and showed that he is in so much of love and stuff could behave this way???

I guess values and morality etc are not an issue with most people now and for some the excuse is that they are alone in another country, work tensions and all that bull shit...Well I guess even thinking about writing such things is making me get irritated...

I sure wonder what the younger generation is growing up to be. It sure is a sad state of affairs. Another menace that many people face here is the problems they face in the public transportation buses. Many young school boys’ harass the passengers a lot and they even go to the extent of physically touching and sexually harassing the female expatriate travelers who are unfortunate enough to be travelling at that time.

The worst part is that no one can respond or go to the rescue as they are Kuwaiti boys and most passengers are expatriates who don’t want to take any risks and get involved. There was also a case when a female started to fight back and asked for help etc and she got pushed out of the moving bus by the kids… (Ahh that is one of the reasons I have never even gone near a bus :( )

Hey can’t blame me ok… I sure don’t want to go through such things… Well now seeing all these I wonder how I will handle kids of my own and how I can make them grow up to be better human beings…

Anyway we cannot blame the financial crunch and crisis around the world for the behavioral problems of all humans’ right? Ya sure that the crisis has put a lot of lives at risk because of the layoffs from jobs and stuff… I know that many people have lost jobs and are wondering what to do, most of them have families who depend on them and most are ones who are at an age where finding new jobs will be too difficult for them.

I sincerely do hope that this situation will somehow clear up soon. It has to…And ya I do hope that the crime rate will go down and that parents will start looking into what their kids do, try and control them and so on in order to make them better citizens. (They have to do something about the kids here as even the 7th graders seem to find alcohol and drugs in this strict country and the number of drug addicts are going up too. All these kids them drive harshly which are leading to a heavy rise in accidents and so many innocent lives are getting lost…may families are getting destroyed because of all this…It sure is a vicious cycle…
We all have to work to make things better…

After effects of the foamy fun

Well the celebrations are over but the after-effects are bad...

Some of the kids don't seem to understand the hazards and some are too bratty and spoilt to even bother. The worst part is most of the parents drive the kids around when they do all this nonsense. This is a common complaint now after each national day celebrations here in Kuwait and most people prefer to stay indoors rather than going out, specially anywhere near the Gulf road. More than 6 people have lost eye sight due to the harmful things sprayed into their eyes.

I really cannot understand why people do such nasty things like spraying people with urine, hair removing solutions, foams, white paint and other such harmful stuff. They are not at all bothered that many people's life become hell after this, after all what have they got to lose right?

Foamy fun

Thousands of citizens thronged the Arabian Gulf Road yesterday to mark the 47th National Day and 17th Liberation Day. Children dressed in colors of the national flag and young men and women in cars waving Kuwaiti flags and portraits of HH Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and other Kuwaiti heroes filled the seaside avenue to celebrate the country's most important national events.

After the state's liberation from Saddam Hussein's troops after seven months of occupation on February 26, 1991, the Gulf Road celebrations have become an annual national event where crowds turn up in large numbers in an exhibition of unity and solidarity. All roads leading to the street, except the main entrances, were blocked by police in an attempt to reduce traffic bottlenecks as vehicles jammed the 25-km road.

The celebrations began soon after the liberation when Kuwaitis flooded the Gulf road to express relief and happiness that the dark days of the Iraqi occupation were over. A US-led international coalition of more than 600,000 troops drove the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait after launching the Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991. They completed their mission on the morning of February 26, one day after the National Day. Iraqi forced invaded the country on August 2, 1990 and drove many Kuwaitis out of thecountry. Hundreds were killed during the seven-month occupation.

Kuwait took its independence from British mandate on June 19, 1960 but late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah decided to mark the event on February 25 ech year because the weather in June is too hot. The country remained under British mandate for more than 60 years, although it enjoyed a considerable degree of independence during those years.