Xiujuan, who has always been optimistic, has always looked sad recently. Only after asking did she know that her son Xiaoming was hospitalized because of broad beans. The doctor said it was [broad bean disease].
Not to mention being hospitalized, gossip hurts even more. No one in the family suffered from this disease for three generations, but the doctor said it was a hereditary disease, which made it difficult for her father-in-law and mother-in-law to understand and even doubted whether the boat of her son’s marriage had turned over. What’s the truth? Let’s take a look!
Broad bean disease is not uncommon.
Broad bean disease, also known as Hu Dou Huang, is a hemolytic anemia disease caused by lack of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in the human body and eating broad beans and broad bean products.
The disease is widely distributed in the population, affecting about 400 million people worldwide. According to epidemiological statistics, broad bean disease is not uncommon in China, with a prevalence rate of 4% ~ 5%.
G6PD this kind of enzyme, can protect red blood cells, make red blood cells not easy to decay, aging. If the human body lacks this enzyme, red blood cells will lose protection, and when eating broad beans or some drugs after red blood cells are easy to rupture, causing hemolytic anemia.
The vast majority of children suffering from broad bean disease will have pale lips, yellow skin and eyes, strong tea or even soy sauce urine. Some children will also suffer from headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and other symptoms. Severe cases even have deep coma.
So far, the cause of hemolysis induced by broad beans is not very clear, It may be related to the fact that broad beans contain dopa, dopamine, isourea and other similar oxidant substances. Moreover, not only fresh broad beans, broad bean products, and even inhaling broad bean pollen may lead to the disease. In addition, the individual differences of broad bean disease are also very large, and even some children with G6PD defects do not suffer from the disease after eating broad beans.
Families are normal and children may also be ill.
Broad bean disease is a hereditary disease. No one in the family has this disease. Why do children get sick?
The broad bean disease gene is related to sex staining, that is to say, the heredity of broad bean disease is related to sex.
We know that the male sex chromosome is XY and the female sex chromosome is XX. The broad bean disease gene is located on the X chromosome, so its heredity is related to sex, and the incidence rate [son preference].
A family like Xiujuan, where couples are normal and grandfathers, grandmothers, grandfathers and grandmothers are also normal, how is the baby son ill?
The greatest possibility is that Xiujuan, as a mother, is the carrier of the broad bean disease gene and then passed the gene to her son Xiaoming.
Although Xiujuan is a carrier, because women have two X chromosomes, one X chromosome has broad bean disease gene, but the other X chromosome does not, according to the genetic law of broad bean disease, they will not suffer from broad bean disease.
However, his son Xiaoming is different, because he is male and has only one X chromosome. If he unfortunately inherits his mother’s X chromosome with pathogenic gene, he will suffer from broad bean disease.
If no one in the family is a carrier, what happens when the child is ill? Is it…….?
Don’t think much about it, there is also a possibility that the child’s gene has mutated. Although this probability is very low, it does exist. At present, more than 100 mutant genes related to broad bean disease have been found.
Broad bean disease is God’s wrong love.
Judging from the global distribution of diseases, the incidence rate of broad bean disease is relatively high in places where malaria is prevalent. In China, the incidence rate of broad bean disease is much higher in the south than in the north (malaria is more likely to be prevalent in the south), especially in Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces.
This is not a simple coincidence. Studies show that in G6PD-deficient cells, this abnormal intracellular environment makes it difficult for Plasmodium to survive, greatly reducing the possibility of malaria in patients with broad bean disease.
Scientists speculate that faba bean disease is probably a choice made by God for our ancestors under the evolutionary pressure caused by malaria. Let them survive when malaria is rampant. So, in a sense, you have to thank the emergence of the faba bean disease gene for your existence today!
Prevention is the key
Children suffering from broad bean disease are no different from normal people when they do not suffer from the disease, and it is also difficult to find out. However, once the disease occurs, many of them are critical and critical diseases in pediatrics, which must be rescued and treated in time.
Therefore, the mother in lactation period for the first time, the child should eat as little as possible when eating broad bean products for the first time, after eating should also be closely observed, once the symptoms mentioned above occur, must immediately seek medical treatment, shall not delay. Especially when there are broad bean disease patients in the family, more attention should be paid.
For children and adults who have been diagnosed with broad bean disease, prevention is very important:
- Don’t eat broad beans and broad bean products, avoid contact with broad bean pollen; Avoid contact with camphor balls, pigments, mint, menthol and other items; When buying drugs yourself, you should avoid using acetaminophen (paracetamol), bezoar, Coptis chinensis, infant hormone and other drugs, and it is best to consult professionals before buying them. If you see a doctor because of other diseases, you should tell the doctor that you have broad bean disease.
In order to reduce the harm of these genetic diseases, some places have carried out screening for diseases including broad bean disease, congenital hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria. For the sake of children’s health, it is recommended that families with conditions actively participate.