What are Jewish genetic diseases?
Jewish genetic diseases are a group of disorders that occur with higher frequency in the Jewish population. The Ashkenazi Jews, those whose ancestors were from Central and Eastern Europe (i.e. Poland, Russia, Germany, Lithuania, etc.) are at higher risk than the general population for several genetic diseases. This is primarily due to the fact that the Jewish communities in Europe were small and isolated, and members tended to marry within those communities. Since it is estimated that all individuals carry a small number of gene changes (called mutations), the ones present in those small groups of European Jews became more prevalent in future generations.
