CHERRY HILL There will be many performances of The Nutcracker this season, but few will be as charming or for such a worthwhile cause as the one Sunday at St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Church. The Philadelphia-based troupe performed highlights from the Tchaikovsky ballet during a lavish Victorian Tea Party fundraiser, with the bulk of the days funds slated for research into a little-known disease that afflicts a parishioner's son. The disease, Friedreich's ataxia, is an inherited disorder that gradually destroys the nerve tissue of the spinal cord, leaving the victim unable to move without a wheelchair and vulnerable to heart disease, diabetes and scoliosis. Medford resident Leonidas Lazaropoulos, the 25-year-old son of parishioner Krissa Lazaropoulos, did not let the disease keep him from graduating from Drexel University with a bachelors degree in biology in 2012, nor will it keep him from working toward his doctorate and his goal of a career in zoology. But the disease, which leaves the mind intact as it attacks the body, has given him deeply slurred speech and hampered his movements. Which is why the sponsor of the fundraiser Nike chapter 230 of the Daughters of Penelope chose the Friedrichs Ataxia Research Alliance, or FARA, … Continue reading →

The medical genetics of Jews is the study, screening, and treatment of genetic disorders more common in particular Jewish populations than in the population as a whole.[1] The genetics of Ashkenazi Jews have been particularly well-studied, resulting in the discovery of many genetic disorders associated with this ethnic group. In contrast, the medical genetics of Sephardic Jews and Oriental Jews are more complicated, since they are more genetically diverse and consequently no genetic disorders are more common in these groups as a whole; instead, they tend to have the genetic diseases common in their various countries of origin.[1][2] Several organizations, such as Dor Yeshorim,[3] offer screening for Ashkenazi genetic diseases, and these screening programs have had a significant impact, in particular by reducing the number of cases of TaySachs disease.[4] Different ethnic groups tend to suffer from different rates of hereditary diseases, with some being more common, and some less common. Hereditary diseases, particularly hemophilia, were recognized early in Jewish history, even being described in the Talmud.[5] However, the scientific study of hereditary disease in Jewish populations was initially hindered by the shadow of the racially selective ideas of eugenics and "racial hygiene", which tried to describe various ethnic groups … Continue reading →