Does John has an incurable flesh eating disease? NO!
But he has been doing some work for Tay Sachs disease.
Tay Sachs Disease (TSD) is an incurable inherited genetic disorder of the central nervous system. Symptoms usually appear before six months, when babies lose the ability to smile. Blindness, paralysis and seizures follow, and the child usually dies before their fifth birthday.
Babies affected by TSD lack an enzyme called HexA. HexA is responsible for breaking down certain fatty substances in brain and nerve cells. Without it these substances gradually accumulate, eventually destroying brain and nerve cells, and so the entire central nervous system.
Despite there being much research being done around the world, unfortunately there is currently no treatment that is known to change the tragic outcome in TSD.
A Message From John Safran On Behalf Of The Tay Sachs Disease Prevention Program.
Dear fellow Jew,
I've been asked to write to you about a genetic disorder that's particular relevant to Jews. So before you continue, try to identify whether you're Jewish or not by answering the following questions.
Do you wear a big furry hat?
Do you play clarinet in an Israeli klezmer band?
Does your house lack a Christmas tree, little wooden crosses, pictures of Pope etc?
Are you having difficulty with this questionnaire because you usually only read Yiddish?
If you answered 'yes' to one or more of the above questions you're probably a Jew. Other identifying features include not following any of the rules set down in the Torah, then rocking up to synagogue once a year, asking for forgiveness and thinking it's all ok.
Anyway, now that you've established you're a Jew, you should know about Tay Sachs Disease (or TSD). As a Jew you have a one in 25 chance of carrying one copy of an altered gene that can cause TSD. This is 10 times more likely than a non-Jew. Carrying this gene isn't a problem within itself. But if two people with the altered gene have a child, there is a one in four chance the baby will be born with Tay Sachs Disease, an incurable and fatal disease of the central nervous system.
So what should you do? Upon hearing this news, I reacted calmly, strolled down to my local cathedral and converted to Christianity- thus becoming one of the non-Jews 10 times less likely to have the problem. It was later, while toweling down the Holy Water in my hair, that I was informed this solved nothing. The gene problem is linked to the European Ashkenazi ancestry of the vast majority of Australian Jews. Once born with it, you can�t get rid of it.
Clearly all us Jews should be screened for the Tay Sachs gene, so we can make informed family planning decisions. This screening process involves having a standard blood test. Quick. Simple. And certainly no worse than the scalping scene in 'Hannibal'.
The Tay Sachs Disease Prevention Program runs screening days for Jews. So you can be tested without the inconvenience of interacting with Anglicans or Scientologists. To find out when they are, and for more information about the disease, check out http://www.taysachs.net/. Please forward this to a fellow Jew or discuss it at your next klezmer band rehersal.
Yours,
John Safran.
