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Doctor Mariam Fida hopes to rid the kingdom’s future generation of disease, including the scourge of sickle-cell anaemia, which has plagued the community, by launching a Genetic Screening Clinic at the beginning of the New Year.
The Bahraini-Omani is a consultant medical geneticist and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) unit director at Princess Al-Jawhara Centre in Salmaniya.
Having witnessed families suffering from sickle cell and other blood cell disorders such as thalassemia, also known as Mediterranean anaemia, Dr Fida has been working closely with soon-to-be-parents in preventing their children from being carriers of these diseases.
Dr Fida said: “I have seen people die in front of me because of sickle cell and thalassemia and I don’t see why they should die if there is a way to help them be healthy.
“I have parents that want to have a new baby, calling me saying that their first child died at six months of age and it breaks my heart. Through PGD and genetic screening, I can locate the mutation and assist young or old in being healthy.
“The Genetic Screening Clinic will hopefully be open by the beginning of the New Year.”
Thalassemia is a diverse group of genetic blood diseases that can cause several complications, including iron overload, bone deformities, and cardiovascular illness. It is the most common inherited gene disorder in the world and is predicted by scientists and public health officials to becoming a global issue in the next century.
The frequency of thalassemia in Bahrain was found to be low-to-moderate compared to other Gulf countries such as UAE, Qatar and Kuwait.
According to information from the Bahrain Society for Sickle Cell Anaemia Patient Care, 14 people passed away from sickle cell this year and 46 deaths were recorded in 2014 of which 28 were men and 18 were women.
In 2013 there were 32 sickle cell-related deaths, 47 in 2012, 32 in 2011, 35 in 2010 and 25 in 2009.
Dr Fida believes that through screening and early detection, she can prevent a new-born from being affected as well as aid adults suffering from the disease.
“The most common diseases in Bahrain are sickle cell and thalassemia so I thought of starting off with those two blood cell disorders,” she explained.
“If a couple are sickle-cell carriers, then with every pregnancy there is a 25 per cent chance that their child will be affected.
“In PGD, we work on preventing that 25 per cent chance of the baby being affected by finding the exact location of the mutation and working with the In Vitro Fertilisation department in locating a healthy embryo.
“Now let’s say a couple, who already have a child suffering from a blood disorder, visit us at the centre to ensure that their second child is not affected by the same disease. Once we locate a healthy embryo, we will check to see if it’s a match to his or her sibling. If it is a match, then after nine months when the baby is born we can take some bone marrow and transplant it in the first child as a cure.”
According to Dr Fida, many people don’t even know whether they are carriers of any disease until they get tested to have children or after the child is born. In this case, she has created a screening test that can detect more than 100 genetic diseases including cystic fibrosis and breast cancer.
She said: “For those that don’t know if they are carriers, this screening will help them find out. We want to help people discover whether they are carriers or have a disease so that they can take the right steps for treatment.”
The test can be done at the Princess Al-Jawhara Centre. Patients need to provide a small sample of blood or saliva and will then be contacted after three weeks for the results.
To find out more, contact 17237336 or email DrMariamPGD@gmail.com.
