A cross to bear?

I was idly reading my news - yup, you guessed it, very early morning shift - when I came across this article. Basically, it details very rare genetic diseases amongest the Amish and Mennonites.

Now, I knew the basics about the Amish, but nothing about the Mennonites. But that wasn't what my post is about. What it IS about is testing.

In the lush, green pastures of Pennsylvania Dutch country, where life revolves around the one-room schoolhouse, the farm and the church, and locals speak a distinctive German dialect, the strange blue lights beam from a handful of homes.

To the Amish and Mennonites they mean one thing — the presence of an xtraordinarily rare disease that seems to cruelly target their communities, forcing afflicted children to spend 10 to 12 hours a day, undressed, under lights.

The children suffer from a genetic disorder that causes high levels of a toxin called bilirubin to build up in their bodies, resulting in severe jaundice that, if untreated, causes brain damage and death.

Bilirubin, a natural waste product from worn-out red blood cells, is normally broken down by an enzyme in the liver. If the enzyme is missing, bilirubin can be checked only by the wavelengths of blue lights. Levels must be monitored constantly. Even minor injuries or infections can cause them to rise dramatically.

The disease is Crigler-Najjar syndrome, named for two doctors who identified it 55 years ago. There are about 110 known cases of Crigler's worldwide, including about 35 in the U.S. About 20 are among the Amish and Mennonite in Pennsylvania.

20 out of 35 cases. That's a huge percentage, considering that over half the cases are amongest these people. And these are some of the most primative religions I have heard about.

I use the word primative loosely here, so don't get your panties in a twist. But it's ironic that a group that is asked to spurn "modern" things is forced to turn to "modern treatment" to save themselves. God telling them that the need to move with the times? Or God testing them and seeing how well they carry their crosses?


Interesting to think about.....