title: Disease, lifestyle, and consanguinity in 58 American Gypsies.
abstract: Medical data on 58 Gypsies in the area of Boston, Massachusetts, were analysed together with a pedigree linking 39 of them in a large extended kindred. Hypertension was found in 73%, diabetes in 46%, hypertriglyceridaemia in 80%, hypercholesterolaemia in 67%, occlusive vascular disease in 39%, and chronic renal insufficiency in 20%. 86% smoked cigarettes and 84% were obese. Thirteen of twenty-one marriages were consanguineous, yielding an inbreeding coefficient of 0.017. The analysis suggests that both heredity and environment influence the striking pattern of vascular disease in American Gypsies.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001900:Boston; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003241:Consanguinity; D003469:Culture; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D010375:Pedigree; D011446:Prospective Studies; D006178:Romani People; D012907:Smoking; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol