The Amish societies in America are Christians that have Switzerland, German, Anabaptist origins. they are the descendants of the Old Amish sect who left Switzerland brethren church in the 16th century because of a dispute in beliefs. The Old Amish sect suffered intense persecution in Europe which led them to immigrate to American. When they arrived in America they settled in states such as, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. There are an estimated 249,000 Amish people settled in America today. The Amish societies follow the Anabaptist churches nonconformist ways they are well known for their old -fashion clothing, and their avoidance modern things such as technology, cars, and electricity. The Amish societies try to live their life according to their religion doctrine. Their societies have a rule which forbid them from marrying anyone outside of the Amish church. This rule has led to the Amish societies to become genetically isolated which has led to the founder effect. The founder effect is when genetic diversity is lost over time due to inbreeded among the small number of individuals who founded a society. This causes Recessive traits found that where limited in the founding population are magnified in future generations as the society grows from the lack of genetic varity.
The founder effect and genetic draft in the Amish society has led to genetic disorders such as Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, which is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder that is inhered, this occur when an individual receives two copies of an uncommon gene for the same trait from both of their parents. Ellis-van Creveld syndrome is a mutations in EVC and EVC2 genes. This mutations can causes dwarfism as well as an individual being born with short limbs and additional fingers and/or toes, as well as unusual development of fingernails and they can suffer from a congenital heart problems. There is no particuar treatments for Ellis-van Creveld , doctors just have to try and treat the various symptoms that an individual with Ellis-van Creveld can experience.
Maple Syrup Urine disorder is caused by a mutation in BCKDHA, DBT and BCKDHB which are the three genes that are supposed to instruct protein to work together. This mutation causes individual body to processes proteins as poison because of a lack of specific enzymes that is required to metabolize the three branched-chain amino acids (Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine) this can lead to the brain to swell up which can cause death. The Maple syrup urine disorder can be seen in Amish children and got it name because an individual who has this disorder urine smells sweet like maple syrup. Treatment for this disorder is a no protein diet and an intravenous treatment
Cohen syndrome is caused by a mutations in the VPS13B gene. This mutations in the VPS13B gene prevents the production of VPS13B proteins which can lead to Cohen syndrome. Cohen syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that can affect an individual psychological growth and behavior, as well as their motor skills. This condition also can causes some physical abnormality such as in babies usually being under the normal weight , and having decreased muscle mass, and flexible joints. this can lead to them having a hard time learning how to walk and do normal physical actives . individuals with Cohen syndrome are also prone to infections and have problems seeing. There is no treatment to cohen syndrome, but there out a variety of therapies out there that can help an individual affect by this disorder deal with the symptoms
Amish lethal microcephaly is a rare disorder caused by a mutation in the SLC25A19 Gene, which instructs producing of protein. The SLC25A19 gene transports thiamine pyrophosphate into the mitochondria. Individuals with Amish lethal microcephaly has a mutation in the SLC25A19 gene that substituted the SLC25A19 protein for Gly177Ala which causes Amish lethal microcephaly. Amish lethal microcephaly is when a baby is born with an abnormally small head and a brain that is underdeveloped.. babies that have Amish lethal microcephaly are born with a number of physical deformed such as a, sloped forehead, and a unusually small jaw and chin. They may experience seizure and have trouble mainting their body temperature and have an enlarged liver. Amish lethal microcephaly is usually always fetal and there no know treatment for this disorder.
The Amish societies also suffer from a number of other genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome, Troyer Syndrome, Crigler-Najjar syndrome etc. The problem with treating all these genetic disorders in Amish societies is that their religion makes them wary of modern medical treatments. Most Amish people believe in folk medicine and treating illnesses with herbs, and prays which wouldn’t do anything to treat or health a genetic disorder. They will only seek modern medical treatment if they have a serious emergency and they don’t take preventative measures or care to keep from getting ill. The best way for Amish people to stop their societies from being ravenous by all of these genetic disorder is for them to get rid of their religion rules that won’t allow them to marry anyone outside of their church. That way they can introduce more genetic variety into their society, which would lead to less genetic drift and mutations.