Author Topic: Alexei and Hemophilia  (Read 214613 times)

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chatelaa

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #30 on: July 01, 2004, 01:39:45 PM »
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Adele you are very welcome...and if you ever have any questions please do not be afraid to ask...I will do my best to answer them as best I can with the most accurate information I can.


As for the ety...of the word....think about the meaning of affinity......think about it! Still a strange thing to name it any way you look at it!

Shan



Hi Shan,
 We have similar minds!  I think it's strange, also.  Now I'm interested in who or what committee decided to use that name .
   And thank you!  I will have questions, definately, later on.  It's so nice having you contribute to our Discussion page.

Warm regards,
Adele

hemphiliamom

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #31 on: July 18, 2004, 11:09:22 PM »
I have just finished reading the book and If someone can point out to me WHERE in the book it says ANYTHING about recessive genes causing his hemophilia I would appreciate it...yes I know it has to be an X sex link recessive gene...but where does it say anywhere in there that BOTH parents had recessive genes? This is what my grandmother told me. This is why I spent 20 bucks and read a 600 page book...Yes I am a reader and I love to do it so it was not a big deal, the big thing is I didn't get out of it what she was saying...SO I am hoping that if anyone has any info they might be able to pass it along! Thanks, Shan!

bookworm

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #32 on: July 19, 2004, 08:02:49 PM »
[ As far as the info I have been give...if my sons have daughters there is a 50/50 chance that they will be carries, just as there is with my daughter...now I may have been told wrong...You hear some much about it and have to sift through it and see what the deal really is. I pray my sons have sons and my daughter is not a carrier so that this will leave our family forever...but you look at the odds and I have about half a chance of that happening. ]

  Sorry, but all of your sons' daughters will definitely be carriers. The chances are 100 percent. The hemophilia gene is on the X chromosome and your sons would only be able to pass on their affected X chromosome to their daughters. All of their sons would be completely healthy and unaffected unless Mom happens to be a hemophilia carrier. Your daughter does have a 50 percent chance of being a carrier.

  Hemophilia is not passed on by both parents -- no recessive genes. It's always passed on by a carrier mother or, indirectly, by a hemophiliac father. If there was a mutation, it would have been in your grandmother's genes, not your grandfather's.

elizaveta

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #33 on: August 16, 2004, 08:10:41 PM »
Would like to refer all members to an excellent article in The American Journal of Hematology 77:92-102 (2004) by John M. L. Kendrick called Historical Perspective.  Russia's Imperial Blood:  Was Rasputin Not the Healer of Legend?

A sober, thorough-going review suggesting childhood blood disorders that mimic hemophilia and that might have led to a mis-diagnosis of Alexei's condition in an era when current diagnostic methods were not available.

The AJH is a highly respected medical journal, and their publication of this review, at the very least, makes one pause to reflect.

E

Robert_Hall

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #34 on: August 16, 2004, 09:22:50 PM »
Mr. Kendrick is also quite well known for his reporting & advocacy of a [deceased] claimant to be the Heir Alexei.  I would say almost as convincing & sober as Mr. Kurth's for AA.
Cheers,
Robert

Offline Belochka

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #35 on: August 16, 2004, 11:10:46 PM »
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Mr. Kendrick is also quite well known for his reporting & advocacy of a [deceased] claimant to be the Heir Alexei.  I would say almost as convincing & sober as Mr. Kurth's for AA.
Cheers,
Robert


Yes, and probably his article will help Mr Kendrick to convince himself further as how Alexei was supposed to have survived.

I know the AJH, however the inclusion of this article in no way detracts from the prestigious nature of this journal.

Kendrick is hypothesizing that Alexei may have suffered a platelet disorder known as Thrombocytopenia (a condition mainly caused by use of cetain drug therapies or cancer). While correctly stating that there were no laboratory results made at the time to bring about a definitive scientific result, he is wrong to suggest that hemophilia was not present. Despite the lack of testing for Factor VIII in Imperial times, it does not imply that the lifelong symptomology present should be ignored.

Since Alexei's remains have yet to be located, Kendrick has now seized the opportunity to say that the diagnosis of Hemophilia could today be placed into some doubt, until those remains are found and tested in a modern laboratory. The deliberate use of his final words were intended to place doubt in the mind of some readers unaware of the historic significance of his 'subject'. However he conveniently seems to have ignored the wisdom of Alexei's physicians of the day and documented family history of this condition.


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bookworm

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #36 on: August 16, 2004, 11:55:55 PM »
Considering the family history of hemophilia in Alexei's family, I think it would be very likely that's what he had. That is unless Alexei's great-uncle Prince Leopold of Great Britain, his maternal uncle Frittie who died as a child, two of his maternal first cousins, two maternal first cousins once removed and two maternal second cousins all had the same different childhood blood disorder cited in this journal. There are different types of hemophilia and different degrees of severity. I doubt anyone knew the difference back then or now what variety of hemophilia Alexei actually had.

Offline LisaDavidson

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #37 on: August 17, 2004, 12:28:13 AM »
I agree, Elizaveta. It's best to weigh evidence wherever possible. I have always found Mr. Kendrick to be professional in his work. While he does have a point of view, I don't think he would disregard the truth in seeking resolution for this case,

Pravoslavnaya

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #38 on: August 17, 2004, 07:02:12 AM »
The proof is going to be in the pudding.  What we should read are the rebuttals that will follow the publication of this article.  Publication of a medical hypotheses does not mean anything more than its exposition.  They are proven and disproven all the time, especially when they sound spectacular.  

IF Mr. Kendrick has based his hypotheses solely on the case of ALEXEI and taken his ENTIRE medical history into account, then those hypotheses are a bit more credible than one might suppose.  But bear in mind that he has developed his theories working backwards from the case of his Estonian claimant, who died of another blood disease altogether.  The identity of the Tsarevich is much more difficult to steal than that of his elder sisters because of his illness, and so there arises the 'possibility' that maybe the most famous hemophiliac in the world did not have the same disease as Prince Leopold and the two Spanish heirs had.


Kim

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #39 on: August 17, 2004, 08:21:46 AM »
I am not doubting the theory based on the man's views, nor do I doubt that such a misdiagnosis is possible. But given the strong family history of hemophilia, it probably was that in Alexei.

Michelle

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #40 on: August 17, 2004, 10:18:11 AM »
Well said, elizaveta.  There's no harm at all in taking at least a look at someone else's point of view and where they're coming from--ESPECIALLY if it is published as you say in a prestigious medical journal and reviewed by experts for submission.  Just because the theory isn't the traditionally excepted version doesn't mean it's not worth even a peek. ;)  With time, new discoveries of what happened in history are inevitable.  So traditional versions of events aren't going to forever be totally valid.  Possiblities have to be explore to gain more understanding. :)

Pravoslavnaya

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #41 on: August 17, 2004, 06:26:16 PM »
IF this theory that the Tsarevich had thrombocytopenia had been made for the sake of pure science by a bona fide hematologist, we would be applauding this person's insight without a qualm.  If this theory can stand alone in the event that the Estonian claimant were proven once and for all not to have been Alexei, there is no reason why Mr. Kendrick would not deserve at least some credit for the hypothesis regardless of the faulty premise he used to reach it.  I do not mean to completely dismiss that hypothesis out of hand unless it falls flat along with the impostor.  

Here is a link to that article:  

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/35105

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Pravoslavnaya »

Offline Belochka

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #42 on: August 18, 2004, 01:52:23 AM »
Kendrick asserts that the key to diagnosing  Alexei's condition Thrombocytopenia vs Hemophilia should be based on historic allegations about Rasputin's capabilities.

If I understand the article correctly, Kendrick contends that if it could be proven that Rasputin did not heal Alexei, then Alexei must have suffered Thrombocytopenia, and not Hemophilia. IMHO this is a very broad statement to present to the medical community.

Surely a reasonable starting point to help cement his assertions would have been to examine the medical records of all known affected members of the Royal Houses, compare lifelong symptomologies and including causes of death of each individual.

Documented historic information informs us that there was a bleeding disorder passed down from Queen Victoria. The condition at the time was little understood, since the causative factors for Hemophilia only became known in 1937 (by the research of Patell & Taylor at Havard). Certainly the Royal Disease could have been attributed much later to a form of Congenital Thrombocytopenia and not to some form of Hemophilia.  However the type of symptoms now known to be attributed to Congenital Thrombocytopenia were not described when Alexei was born. He appeared normal for the first several weeks, and it was not until several weeks had passed that spontaneous bleeding was observed seeping from his umbilicus. From these documented descriptions, coupled with subsequent episodic hemorrhaging into his joints, the ease of bruising etc., he was correctly diagnosed as suffering Hemophilia.

Alexei's initial diagnosis was made well before the trip to Spala, which Kendrick believes was the starting point of Alexei's actual condition (without proof) could have been attributed to an underlying viral infection, despite the trauma of a fall.  Even if this conjecture was remotely accepted to have any veracity, then it might be plausible to suggest that Alexei may have begun to show symptoms of viral induced Thrombocytopenia.  

But it it is difficult to accept this proposal on a number of points:

1. There was no evidence of any viral (or bacterial) infection contracted in the autumn of 1912,

2. Family genetics clearly describe otherwise,

3. Early diagnosis of a bleeding dysfunction in the first few months (not days) after birth.

4. His condition was episodic, with periods of reasonable health and appearance.  

Furthermore, to discuss a sample of one (knowing that there was some kind of familial genetic predisposition), is neither credible nor scientific. His proposals could only be considered as highly speculative.

The paper was presented as a Historical Perspective having the status of a curiosity, which sets it apart from the more meritorious scientific endeavors published in the same journal, which are subject to peer review.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Belochka »


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Pravoslavnaya

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #43 on: August 18, 2004, 07:06:06 AM »
Thank you, Belochka.  I suspected that there would be nothing more from Mr. Kendrick than what he has stuck to time and time again.  Basing his speculations about a lifelong hemophiliac only on the most dramatic and life-threatening episode of his illness known to posterity is not scientifically sound.  Perhaps publication in a medical journal does not necessarily imply an author's credence.  Mr. Kendrick's attempt at iconoclasm here is typical not only of his partisanship but of a certain school of pseudo-scholarly journalism.  Perhaps in his sincerity he has not set out to deceive others but has certainly deceived himself.

I wrote an e-mail to the St. Petersburg Times about how I wished they had written something about the 100th birthday celebrations instead of giving publicity to the cause of an impostor by bringing up this article.

If, however, this forces the hand of someone in the scientific community to go about the process of eventually disproving the claims of the Estonian man through DNA testing, maybe it's not all that bad.

Offline Belochka

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Re: Alexei and Hemophilia
« Reply #44 on: August 18, 2004, 10:14:12 PM »
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 Perhaps publication in a medical journal does not necessarily imply an author's credence.  Perhaps in his sincerity he has not set out to deceive others but has certainly deceived himself.

I wrote an e-mail to the St. Petersburg Times about how I wished they had written something about the 100th birthday celebrations instead of giving publicity to the cause of an impostor by bringing up this article.


Hi Pravoslavnaya,

Unfortunately his AJH publication will add nicely to his c.v. However it would be doubtful that the majority of his select audience would have all that much interest in the contents of the article. It must be remembered that Kendrick is not as far as I am aware a qualified hematologist nor a medical scientist.

Had Kendrick really understood the longterm complications caused by untreated Thrombocytopenia, I would have doubted that we would be reading his 'learned proposal'.

I congratulate you on e-mailing the SPb Times, since they are seeking reader responses for their 1000th issue. Wishing you success! :D






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