Talk:Galactosemia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is supported by the WikiProject on Medical genetics, which gives a central approach to Medical genetics and related subjects on Wikipedia. Please participate by editing the article Galactosemia, or visit the project page for more details on the projects.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.

Regarding "Goppert first described the disease in 1917." Who is Goppert? --Dgerton 09:39, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
The passage "Its incidence is about 1 per 47,000 births (classic type). It is much rarer in Japan." makes assumptions about the nationality and\or ethnic background of the reader. It's much rarer in Japan than where? --Dgerton 09:39, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "toxic levels of galactose to build up in the blood".

Are we sure that high levels of galactose are toxic in the blood? Was there not some GALT knock out mice produced who showed no symptoms of galactosemia even through they had higher concentrations of Galactose in the blood-questioning the assumption that elevated galactose concentrations are toxic. If high galactose concentrations are toxic then what is the cause of this toxicity?

I'm tempted to add more to this article (don't worry with referances)

--Joedoggyuk 14:47, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re:"Its incidence is about 1 per 47,000 births (classic type). It is much rarer in Japan."

It doesn't make assumptions about the nationality and\or ethnic background of the reader. The incidence of galactosemia depends on where it occurs. In fact, it varies from one population to another. After other sources, incidence of classical galactosemia is approximately 1 per 40,000 live births -That's the third occurence if you search in Google: "incidence of Galactosemia in Scandinavia". If you search there: "incidence of Galactosemia", the tenth occurence is: "The incidence of classical galactosemia is one in 60000 births". I knew the latter data: I think it refers to the United Kingdom at the end of the seventies (I think in 1978-1979).

[edit] Re: "toxic levels of galactose to build up in the blood".

"If high galactose concentrations are toxic then what is the cause of this toxicity?"--Joedoggyuk

It seems to me Joedoggyuk has nothing understood about the main article about Galactosemia. I suggest to you to read again carefully the article. Anyway, "galactosemia" -or "galactosaemia"- means literally "galactose in the blood". Therefore, as the article says, "In individuals with galactosemia, GALT activity is severely diminished, leading to toxic levels of galactose to build up in the blood (...)" There you are: leading to toxic levels of galactose to build up in the blood. This levels of galactose in the blood are toxic, because galactose can´t be converted into glucose, so it's like a poison for individuals with galactosemia.