A 48-year-old member asked:
What is the most common genetic disorder in the U.S.?
1 doctor answer
Dr. Richard Roberts answered
45 years experience in Pediatrics
Too complex to answer: There are Mendelian disorders: X-linked recessive, X-linked dominant, autosomal dominant, and autosomal recessive. There are genetic disorders caused by abnormal amounts of chromosomal material: trisomies, deletions, and duplications. The largest group are disorders in which there is clearly a genetic component, but non-genetic factors are also important. No easy answer.
Answered on Oct 23, 2017
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Dr. Richard Roberts commented
45 years experience in Pediatrics
Provided original answer
I should also mention the great importance of epigenetic factors: those factors which can interfere with normal genetic expression--such as turning off a particular gene which should be functioning, or vice versa.
Nov 22, 2016
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