impact of consanguinity on childhood blindness and partial sight among Jordanians

The causes of childhood blindness vary among countries and communities; however, in Jordan, the predominant cause is genetic inheritance. In a survey of two generations of Jordanians, little change was noted in the etiology of visual handicaps. While acquired causes of blindness have decreased, the incidence of inherited blindness does not seem to have changed. A high rate of autosomal recessively inherited diseases and unusual patterns of occurrence were noted. The prevalence and patterns of consanguinity in Jordan have just recently been surveyed. Results showed a high incidence of consanguineous marriages-one of the highest in-breeding coefficients reported in the literature-that was not decreasing even among young university graduates. Although social and economic developments in recent years have generated improvements in health parameters, the incidence of childhood blindness and other heritable disorders in Jordan will not be reduced unless traditional and cultural habits are altered

Causes of blindness in Irbid, Jordan

To determine the most common causes of blindness and the age of onset of these conditions among Jordanians of Irbid, a study of all registered members in two societies for the care of the blind was carried out. Of all registered members, 185 individuals were blind according to the World Health Organization definition and satisfied our inclusion criteria. It was found that genetically determined causes made up 41% of the total causes. In 57% of the subjects, blindness occurred in the first two decades of life. The specific leading causes of blindness, in the order of their frequencies, were tapetoretinal degenerations as different variants of retinitis pigmentosa [17.6%] glaucomas [16%], diabetic retinopathy [13%], post-infection corneal scarring [11.5%], congenital cataract [8.8%] and uveitis [8%]. The results reflect the satisfactory achievements in primary health care levels and the challenge to make specialized tertiary health care more accessible

Cataract, diabetes, and risk of cataract extraction among Arabs in Kuwait

The prevalence of diabetes among 352 Arab patients of two ethnic constitution [Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti] who had cataract extraction in the year 1983 was found to be 21%. The highest prevalence was among Kuwaiti females [28%], which matched that of the general population for the some age, sex, and ethnic constitution. Kuwaiti diabetics required cataract extraction at an earlier age in both sexes, but the difference for non-Kuwaiti was not significant. The annual rate of cataract extraction was higher for Kuwaiti in all age groups and in both sexes compared to non-Kuwaiti Arabs, and females in both groups had a higher rate than males. A high prevalence of prehensile cataract extraction in this population, reaching up to 58%, was documented. The presence of diabetes appeared to be a significant risk factor for the Arab female to have character extraction but not for the male