Jan 13: Jewish Genetic Screening
to
Levite Jewish Community Center 3960 Montclair Rd , Mountain Brook, Alabama
The Birmingham Jewish Federation and Foundation is hosting the screening in partnership with the National Victor Center for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, and in collaboration with physicians from the Department of Genetics of UAB Individuals are encouraged to pre-register online and may obtain information regarding insurance coverage and costs at victorcenters.org.
In the past, prospective parents had no way of knowing whether they were carriers of a genetic disease that could threaten the health and life of their children – until it was too late and a child became sick. For Jewish individuals of Central and Eastern European descent, the potential danger is particularly great, since one in four is a carrier for at least one of 19 preventable genetic diseases. Unfortunately, many of these diseases strike in childhood, have no cure and can lead to an early death.
A simple blood test is all that is necessary to screen for the Jewish genetic disease panel of 19 conditions. The Victor Center recommends that all at-risk individuals – including interfaith couples and couples getting pregnant through donor egg/sperm – should be screened, with the Jewish partner being screened first. Individuals with one or more Jewish grandparents are considered at risk. Couples should be screened prior to each pregnancy for any new diseases – since there have been new advances in testing, the list of known genetic diseases is constantly being expanded.
For more information, contact Caren Seligman, Outreach Director at the Birmingham Jewish Federation, at CarenS@bjf.org or visit victorcenters.org.