Thread by @BadgleyLaurence

PREVALENCE OF HSD
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By my estimation about 15% of the population is beset with hypermobility tissue variations, and most are women. These tissue variations are genetic traits & seemingly conserved within the population.

It might be a consideration that occurrence of these tissue variations negatively impacts the incidence of population-wide fecundity and procreativity. I do not know if anyone has studied this hypothetical dynamic.

In past eras, mobility dysfunctions associated with hypermobility tissue variations might have caused premature death; a culling of the weak & physically disabled of the herd; so to speak.

Conveniences & comforts of modern life might have forestalled such disastrous consequences for hyper-mobile types. Another interpretation might be that population densities of hypermobility genes are naturally intended to prosper. Let me tell you why...

For years, I have kept my doctor antennas raised for patients w. Fibromyalgia &/or hypermobility. At first, I became interested in Fibromyalgia & discovered that most persons with FM & whom I examined had manifest hypermobility. I pondered relationship & recorded my thoughts.

In 2010, Dr. Rodney Grahame edited “Hypermobility, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Pain”. Alas, I knew I was not the only one thinking along these lines.

During these same decades of medical practice and gathering data for my theories, I worked in three localities where many of my patients were from cultures which were originally subsistence-based ...

In Humbolt County, CA, it was the Hmong relocated from Laos. In Los Banos & Oroville CA, it was Mexican- Americans. In Hawaii, it has been native Hawaiians.

In caring for members of these cultures, I have made some observations: Why are these women seemingly so pervasively imbued with hypermobility? What I discovered is that they prosper because men love them! Let me explain...

Cultural characteristics of three cultures I am discussing, Hmong, Mexican-American, & Hawaiian: historically been subsistence cultures which live close to the land. Survival & prosperity are directly related to harvesting of carbohydrate-dense survival foods: rice, corn, & taro.

My theory is that within these cultures there is operant a dynamic whereby the number of hands available to harvest crops is more important than the number of mouths to feed. Large families are an asset for family survival.

Amongst indigenous Hmongs, 5-12 children is the norm. Within the United States Mexican-American families have 5-7 children. Hawaiians seem to have similar numbers of offspring per family. I have no statistics for these numbers, only personal observations.

Recently, an Hawaiian woman who had 10 children asked me how many I had. When I responded “1” she seemed perplexed and asked if I enjoyed that. In the moment, I assumed she were expressing that this lesser number would be less joyful. With unease, I shifted the conversation.

Later, I wondered if she might have been making a comparison to a greater peace of mind that a lesser number of children might bring to parents. I never asked. Who knows?

As I have cared for numerous family members within these large-family cultures, I have been impressed as to prevalence of hypermobility in mother’s & a common phenomenon of mother-to-daughter transmission of this trait. I believe this is more than accidental.

I once asked a Mexican-American women why there were so many children per family in her culture. She told me men, as they choose wives, consider attributes of fecuditity in future mother-in-laws. They looked for women who could bear large multiples of offspring.

To my mind, women with hypermobility have easier births. Their pelvices are innately more expansive. A characteristic of hypermobile women is by 3rd or later child, the length of labor is markedly reduced. I have no statistics other than asking questions & empirical observations.

A common phenomenon which disrupts this pattern of rapid birthing is caesarean section. Once undertaken, procedure becomes standard for subsequent pregnancies. My regard is caesareans are more a function of doctor preferences, & perhaps their incomes, than natural necessities.

I have often thought that low income women incur an increased incidence of caesarean-assisted deliveries. However, I cannot recount any data to support my assumption.

In any case, rapid delivery, whether by caesarean or hypermobile pelvis, is likely beneficial to the newborn. To my mind, the less time hung up in the birth canal the better. My theory is that rapid birth supports quicker oxygen exposure & stronger brains.

Perhaps lesser procrastination within the birth canal is why so many hypermobile women seem to be smarter than the norm. New age women talk about “indigo children”. Have I discovered the cause?

Another factor preserving of intelligence, a survival characteristic in its own right, is breast feeding. I suspect, absent data, that subsistence cultures rely more on breast milk than formula preparations. Breast milk is good for both brain & immune development.

So in a nut shell, subsistence cultures provide evolutionary pressure for propagation of the hypermobility trait & concentration of the gene pool that fosters these tissue variations. This phenomenon is not without consequences however....

My observations have been that women with hypermobility lead adult lives frought with pain. By time they are in their 40’s, many indigenous Hmong women can hardly walk because of pelvic instability, chronic low back pain, & Fibromyalgia (unpublished data).

These aging Hmong women characteristically do not seem to complain, they are stoic, and sit around the house watching others work. As they do this perhaps they take to ordering around their daughter-in-laws. I do not know.

There is a confounding factor in all of this however: the phenomenon of endometriosis, which is associated with hypermobility. A common perception is that women with endometriosis have less children because of their disorder.

My regard is that there are no confirmatory statistics for a phenomenon that women with endometriosis have less pregnancies or lesser ability to get pregnant. I have heard experts state this same opinion.

I have often thought that women with endometriosis, if they do have less children, do so because of less frequency of intercourse related to dyspareunia, which I believe they do experience greater than the norm.

In a previous recent twitter thread (8/31/19) my essay related dyspareunia, hypermobility, pelvic girdle pain, & sacroiliac joint disorder; all commonly found in hypermobile women. These have been my empirical clinical observations.

Perhaps endometriosis, if it is indeed a factor that limits frequency of childbirth, is an evolutionary principle that offsets the pressure of large families that preserve the pool of hypermobility genes. Nature seems to have its checks and balances.

My previous endometriosis threads: 9/28/19, 9/25/19, 9/15/19, 9/2/19, 8/31/19, 7/12/19, 5/21/19. At the present time, I am crafting another thread on Endometriosis. I usually work on different threads simultaneously, so don’t have publishing date. If you want notice push heart ❤️

On one hand, Darwinian evolutionary principles would not seem upheld by large portions of women living lives beset with pain. On the other hand, life beyond about 40 years of age is not necessary for survival of the species.

Evolutionary principles seem to maintain a natural balance of things; until humankind invents phenomena that disrupts the balance of nature. Invention of birth control might be a reason we are all still here & reasonably intact; having escaped death by overpopulation.

And while I am on a burst of theories & speculations, why has it not been considered that endometriosis is a tissue disorder incited by mast cells, which are fostered by irritated pain nerves attendant with hypermobility & pelvic girdle joint instabilities?

Back to my original premise. As far as I know, my theory of concentration of the hypermobility gene pool caused by men with macho dispositions is one I have not heard of before...

I am sure that my espousal of this macho-man theory of hypermobility preservation will disrupt equanimity of those possessed with concern for political correctness & cultural sensitivities. However, I have the Twitter great silent void as a protective vail.

Recently, I announced that I am gathering my thoughts as to the prevalence of Hypermobility disorders in primary care. That essay is partly done and based on the figures I have maintained of my various patient populations.

Anyone who retweets this present thread will be notified when I post that upcoming essay and data about the prevalence of Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, #HSD.

Maybe someone can turn this into a threadreader.