Torres Strait family on Thursday Island.
Image source: Let’s Learn about the Torres Strait Islands, Oz Publishing.
The realisation that Australian Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders are not only more prone to the autoimmune condition lupus but suffer a more severe form of it than Europeans, would be an embarrassment for creationists if they were aware of it and understood the implications for some of their most cherished superstitions.
It has long been known that Africans and Asians are more prone to lupus, but this study shows that Australian Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders may have been singled out for special attention, if you believe these things are designed by creationism's putative designer.
In general terms. lupus is a failure if the immune system in that something triggers it to turn against the person instead of protecting them. As an example of design, it is an example of incompetence in the extreme. It's like creating an army to protect a country, only to have it turn on the people of that country and start massacring them, because it's mistaken them for invaders. This might be a feature of mal-formed banana republics, but it's hardly a sign of a well-designed civilised society.
But, of course, creationists have been primed to blame these design failures, like parasites, on the scientifically nonsensical 'genetic entropy' and 'devolution', but if that were to blame for the greater suffering of these Austronesians that would mean that they have 'devolved' further than other humans and so must have been subject to more 'genetic entropy'. But all humans have been around for the same length of time, whether you accept the science or believe the childish magic creation just a few thousand years ago, so what would cause this accelerated rate of 'genetic entropy' in a regional population?
Nothing, of course, because entropy is a function of time. The notion of entropy progressing at differential rates is even more idiotic than the idea of genetic entropy in the first place. 'Genetic entropy' was an invention of the creation cult, embarrassed by the evidence of imperfection in design that they claim was the work of a perfect creator. So, falling back on Bible literalism that they knew would appeal to their cult, they hit upon the idea of a perfect initial creation that then began to deteriorate once a legendary ancestral couple had created 'Sin'. It might not make any biological sense, but at least it ties Bible literalism into the cult's central superstition and makes the fundamentalists feel smug.
But sadly for them, that tactic comes undone when you realise that there is considerable variation within species in the degree of 'imperfection' due to genetic variation, and, by definition all members of the same species have the same genetic history and have been evolving (or 'devolving', if you believe that nonsense) for the same amount of time, so there should be no significant variation and what variation there is should be the same across the whole population, not subject to local differences.
But what is it that makes these Austronesians more prone to lupus? Is it 'genetic entropy' or selectively inherited genetic variation, or is it by design?
We've seen how it can't be genetic entropy and creationists refuse to accept selectively inherited genetic variation because that would mean accepting evolution, so that just leaves intentional design.
The reality is explained in an article in The Conversation by Laura Elizabeth Eades, a Rheumatologist, Monash University; Professor Alex Brown, Professor of Indigenous Genomics, Australian National University; Fabien B. Vincent, a Senior Research Fellow; Rheumatology Research Group, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash University and Dr Rury Liddle, General Practitioner, Researcher, Monash University.
Their article is reprinted here under a Creative Commons license, reformatted for stylistic consistency:
Lupus is more common and severe in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Learning why is crucial
Indigenous Australians are one of the minority groups with high rates of lupus.
Laura Elizabeth Eades, Monash University; Alex Brown, Australian National University; Fabien B. Vincent, Monash University, and Rury Liddle, Monash UniversityLen Matthews
Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys.
The symptoms of lupus, also known as systemic lupus erythematosus (or SLE), can range from mild to life-threatening. It can result in significant disability, economic burden and lower quality of life.
Lupus most commonly affects women of childbearing age and is among the top ten causes of death for young women in the United States.
Lupus is more common, and more severe, among people of certain ethnicities, including people of Asian and African ethnicity, as well as First Nations peoples in Australia and worldwide.
Health effects of colonisation
Following colonisation in 1788, government policies have discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This has created long-standing oppression and structural racism, which many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples still experience today.
As a result, health outcomes are poorer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compared to the general Australian population, with life expectancy eight years lower, on average.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples also experience significant socioeconomic disadvantage.
Lupus is no exception
Lupus is two to four times more common in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compared to those who do not identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Lupus is also more common in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, with rates four to 18 times that of the general Australian child population
Lupus also tends to present with different symptoms, and is more severe, in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples tend to develop more of the severe, life-threatening or organ-threatening symptoms of lupus, such as kidney problems. And they tend to develop less of the milder, non-life threatening symptoms of lupus, such as skin rash and arthritis.
Kidney involvement, including the need for dialysis, is more common in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with lupus.
Death is also more common. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with lupus are up to six times more likely to die than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with lupus. Death also often occurs at a younger age and shorter disease duration in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with lupus.
Why is it more common and more severe?
The reasons for the increased rates and severity of lupus in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not well understood. However, it’s likely that socioeconomic factors, environmental factors and biological factors all play a role. To date, no published studies have specifically explored this.
A number of socioeconomic factors may contribute to increased rates and severity of lupus in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These include:
- increased likelihood of living in rural and remote areas with reduced access to specialist care
- language barriers
- lack of trust in the health system, due to structural racism and a lack of cultural sensitivity.
Environmental factors, such as increased exposure to certain infections, may also contribute.
Certain molecules, such as genes and proteins, belonging to what we call biological “pathways” drive lupus severity in non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
For example, in people of Asian ethnicity with lupus, a particular pathway (called the “type 1 interferon pathway”) which causes inflammation is often active.
However, what we don’t know is which pathway(s) are active in lupus affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
What can we do about it?
Once researchers identify the active biological pathways, new medicines could be developed.
Drugs already in use which target these genes or proteins could also be better selected for patients who are likely to benefit from them. This may help treat lupus more effectively in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the future.
Other strategies to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with lupus include:
- improving access to specialist care for patients living in rural and remote areas
- eliminating structural racism in health care
- raising awareness of lupus in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
To design these management strategies and identify additional areas of need, it will be vital to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a community-led, holistic way, with strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance. Only then will we achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with lupus.
Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University; Alex Brown, Professor of Indigenous Genomics, Australian National University; Fabien B. Vincent, Senior Research Fellow; Rheumatology Research Group, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash University, and Rury Liddle, General Practitioner, Researcher, Monash University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
These are the inescapable conclusions an honest creationist would have to face up to if they had the intellectual integrity to do so. They're nonsense of course, because evolution is perfectly capable of explaining these difference across populations without invoking racism, incompetence or malevolence - not so for creationism, however.
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