GENETIC ALTERATION

A. INTRODUCTION

In a bid to move forward in life, I travelled to another town out of the state that I have been born and bred some years back... to some in the advanced country this could be called tourism, but this is more than tourism because I actually thought I would be settling down in the state until the tide of things changed and I have to move back to the state I was raised up from. The state I traveled to is called Ekiti State, it is one of the Yoruba states in the South-West of Nigeria. This documentation is essentially centered on Ekiti State, Nigeria.

However, on gettin to the state I migrated to some few years back, I started to notice many things are apparently distantly different in modal frequency from those things that I used to see and know in the place I grew up from and of course those things are equally uncommon in those other places I have once transciently sojourned.

Some of the noticeable physical differences in human beings include: 1. Number of hunched back people, 2. Number of albinoes, 3. Number of calcaneal valgus deformity people

These apparent differences put a question mark in my heart of hearts, the reason/s for these noticeable differences ought to be found out I said to myself.

B. POSTULATIONS

Several things could perhaps be alluded to cause these problems, these include among others the followings:

1. Vitamin deficiencies 2. Local herbs usage, 3. Lethal dosage of those local herbs indeterminant, 4. Hormonal disturbances, 5. Childbirth (parturition) method - ? Trauma during parturition 6. Post-parturition trauma due to stretching or flexing and extending the neck of neonate during

parturition

7. Accidents

C. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

Since embryonical development needs hormonal, vitamins, essential minerals etc to be in normal physiological range for the physiological growth and development of the fetus/es, any alteration to the normal physiologically range of these required ingredients in-utero shall indubitably affect the fetal development and if uncurbed early or if the bud is not nibbed in time, it shall invariably result in permanent disability of the developing embryo, which shall be ostentatiously visible after parturition.

The probable means of the pathogenesis is that they cause alteration to the mitotic division of the tissues responsible for such region or area's normofunctioning thus resulting in dysfunctioning. The failure to curb this could also lead to the arrest of some spindle formation which are responsible for the separation of cells during the mitotic cell division.

It won't be an understatement stating that at some instances, there may also be total cleavage of the gene responsible for such development in utero.

The gene responsible for such growth and development and subsequently responsible for the physiological functioning of such area could also undergo substitution and elimination method, thence forming a NONSENSE CODON which shall invariably result in types of manifested abnormalities been seen after parturition.

Biochemical analysis and documentation showed the significance of vitamins for physiological development, vitamin D is particularly noted to be of immense use in bone growth and (perhaps) formation. The pathway of this vitamin and other vitamins alike that is essential for the normal development of the embryo could be gravely affected at any of the stages of its pathway; either early, middle or late.

The hormones working in consonance with the body's hormones for adequate and or proper bone formation may also have been affected, at the site of production, after being produced or even at their receptor site.

The nervous physiological action requires some minerals but this could also be affected.

The nervous connection responsible for harmonious functioning of the parts of the body (muscles, bones, tendons etc) could also be affected during parturition because the people who inhabit this region for financial reasons yet patronize traditional parturition method. The statistical record of this may not be accurate because of the false belief of the people when being questioned by researchers. But close observation and interaction sell them out that they patronize the traditional method of childbirth than the medical method.

Apart from those who patronize the traditional method of delivery, there are others who yet deliver by themselves, those who deliver at home. All these expose them to different kinds of risks.

D. EFFECT

The effects are many, part of which include: 1. PSYCHOSOCIAL

· The people affected are disdained,

· It takes time before they are accepted in the public,

· It takes time before people associate themselves with them,

· People at times consider it a curse

· They treat such people as if it is a transferable disease?

· Marriage difficulty

2. ACADEMIC

· Find it hard to get admission into any school: primary, post-primary or tertiary

· Not preferentially treated, they are subjected to the same stress that other people who do not have genetical problems are subjected to, this therefore makes it difficult for them in so many instances to cope in schools and colleges, resulting in drop-out and becoming dependant people in the society.

3. ECONOMICAL

· Business affected

· People may not want to patronize them,

· Difficulty in securing employement

4. MEDICAL

· The affected area shall become difficult to treat, if infected/during accident,

· Extra-cost required for their treatment,

· Specialists required to treat them and not just general practitioners,

· The presence of other underlying problems (could not be ruled out) due to genetic mutation and which may be hidden at infancy/childhood

E. TREATMENT

1. Educating the women on taking of local herbs particularly during pregnancy, 2. Help in determining the lethal dosages of those herbs, 3. Educating the public, 4. Educating the traditional child deliverers, 5. Analysing the herbs and determining the chemical compositions of them before they are used 6. Etc.

F. CONCLUSION

It is no hidden fact that the vast majority of people of the south-western part of Nigeria yet trust local herbs or drugs for treatment than they do trust orthodox medicine or drugs. This trust of theirs’ is demonstrated in their patronization of traditional herbal homes. They also do have believe in local herbs due to the resistant of some micro-organisms to certain anti-microbial drugs, the antibiotics. This believe of theirs’ make them arrive at the assertion in some quarters that certain orthodox drugs are not meant for this part of the world but for caucassians, scadinavians... Hence, even if they go to hospitals they simply do so "for going sake" and not as if they trust that something good will come out of the place, they simply go to hospitals due to the persuasion of some people close by. They though receive some succour through this traditional medicine, but yet those unfound and unexpected problems that sometimes accompany such drugs/herbs usage which are not prepared for are usually being attributed to some demonical "orchestry".

G. LIMITATIONS

1. Inability to access the genetic composition of such people, 2. Inability to follow the progenition of the affectee to the 4th or 5th filial generation to see if the

phenotypical expressions of the affectee's filial tree do express such deformity, 3. Inability to check the effect of location -geographical- on the pregnant women, 4. The effect of green house couldn’t be affirmed, 6. The effect on spermatogenesis/spermatozoa couldn’t be affirmed

I. RECOMMENDATION

1. Guidance on the type of herbs use by pregnant females, 2. Taken of blood sample, tissue extracts or samples etc for analysis and histopathological

studies 3. X-ray or Scan analysis of the fetus, 4. Amniotic fluid collection for analysis

5. Jobs creation for the affectee,

6. Guidance and Counselling,