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Today, 22 November 2008

» Yengeni 'coverup ordered'

» Grass is greener in SA

» Dead terrorist ad banned

» Khompela reined in

» Skierlik killer sentenced

Yesterday, 21 November 2008

» SA gets tough on Zim

» Chicken satay dog?

» 'Springbok emblem must go'

» Week in Quotes

» Cope gets Simon Grindrod

Carol: My son had craniostenosis when he was little.

Harry: Okay, craniostenosis is a congenital condition in which the skull is narrow. The bones of the skull are such that instead of having a normal size head, you have a small head.

Carol: We were told six years ago that there was a one in a million chance of this happening.

Harry: Look it is a rare condition but I don't know if it's one in a million.

Carol: Do you know if it's hereditary?

Harry: I'm not an expert in this but it is possible that there may be a genetic element. But I'm not sure about that.

Carol: Because my niece's second child has now been diagnosed with the same thing, and again in a male. Do you know whether this happens more in boys?

Harry: No really, I'm not sure about this. But the doctor that you saw who made the diagnosis was presumably a specialist in this area.

Carol: Yes he was.

Harry: Well he must have spoken to you about this, and told you about these things.

Carol: Well six years ago he said it wasn't hereditary, but my niece's doctor in America has told her that it is hereditary. It's just confusing and I would like to know.

Harry: Look, on first principles it's very likely that a condition like this would have a genetic component, but not in all cases. It's not one or the other because some of these congenital abnormalities may be genetic but sometimes not. So it may be that both views are true. In your particular circumstance it sounds like there may be a genetic element.

Carol: Thank you doctor.