GENETIC-DISEASE AND CULTURE PATTERNS IN LEBANON

Cases of .beta.-thalassemia and hemophilia (factor XIII and IX deficiency) in pre-war Lebanon were examined for social and genetic information, using medical records. All diagnosed cases admitted to the American University Hospital in Beirut between 1960-1970 were examined. Muslims and families of lower socioeconomic status predominated in the data, and many cases were located in the semi-rural poverty belt of Beirut, where many rural migrants and Palestinian refugees congregate. Parental consanguinity rates among male hemophiliacs were used as estimates for the general population. Consanguinity is higher in the thalassemic population. In the Christian population the incidence of this autosomal recessive disorder appears to have been inflated by consanguinity more than in the Muslims.