The story of one Tbilisi Armenian family is known, where both father and mother changed their surnames to Georgian, and their son, a purebred Armenian by blood, was everywhere positioned as “100% Georgian”. And everything would be fine if the boy from about 10 years old did not begin to suffer from terrible pain. The parents went to Tbilisi hospitals, and there they said that there are no good specialists in Georgia for the treatment of this disease, such a disease is being treated in Yerevan and a well-known professor was recommended.

This family comes to Yerevan, comes to an appointment with the "medical luminary" who terribly disliked when the Armenians were hiding their Armenian origin. They say the Georgian surname, of course. The professor shakes his head disapprovingly and asks for his mother's maiden name. He is told another Georgian surname. This began to infuriate the doctor, "and now, he says, tell me your real name, otherwise, I will not treat your child, since Georgians cannot get such a disease." The parents had to honestly confess everything - respect for them in the eyes of the doctor for them no longer, but at least he undertook to treat their child and advised the parents to return their son's real name.

Georgians are usually not aware of what kind of disease they are talking about since it does not occur among them, but Armenians are well aware of it. This is the so-called familial Mediterranean fever.

An interesting material was published by the Armenian "Javakhk" website https://jam-news.net/ known for its separatist views. As you know, Armenian nationalists love to tell pseudo-historical tales that they are “indigenous” on the territory of Georgia, in the same Samtskhe-Javakheti and lived there almost earlier than dinosaurs. However, dry medical statistics and data from genetic studies suggest that this is not the case. And this fact, albeit indirectly, but we have to admit in the article by Mariam Samvelyan "How to get used to pain and stop being afraid: what is" Armenian "disease". Here are excerpts from this material:

“Armenian, Yerevan, periodic disease - that's what the people call it. The medical name for the disease is familial Mediterranean fever. It is genetically transmitted, incurable, and requires prophylactic treatment - for life.

FMF is found in representatives of nationalities whose ancestors lived in the Mediterranean countries. Hence its name. But it doesn't matter where they live now. These are mainly Armenians, Jews, Turks, and Arabs.

The first attacks in most begin before the age of 20, in 50 percent of patients, the disease manifests itself before the age of 10.

Few people in Armenia admit that they have such a problem. In particular, unmarried girls do not like to talk about this, because "who will marry then?" And there are no exact statistics on how many patients there are in the country.

What is this disease? What doctors and people who live with her say.

“I know that I will soon have an attack, I know in advance - in a few hours my temperature rises, nausea and aching pain in the abdomen appear. Moreover, an attack always occurs very unexpectedly: I can just sit and suddenly feel that everything will begin soon. And after a while, I am already in bed with acute pains.

During an attack, it seems that from the inside, something is simultaneously pressing hard and twisting all the internal organs in the region of the stomach and intestines. The pain is so severe that I cannot walk on my own. And on the second day, the pain goes to the chest. One of the most unpleasant components of the disease is that I lie exclusively on my back, do not move, and practically do not breathe, the pain is simply paralyzing. Everything subsides on the third day, and on the fourth, I become a normal person again - until the next attack. "

So Karina talks about the symptoms that she has to endure from time to time.

Familial Mediterranean fever is caused by a mutation in the MEFV gene - Mediterranean Fever, which means Mediterranean fever.

The disease is transmitted mainly through an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance, says Tamara Sargsyan, a geneticist, head of the Center for Medical Genetics. This means - when both parents, even if they are healthy, are carriers of the MEFV gene.

The disease manifests itself throughout life with varying intensity, the frequency of attacks - usually once a month from one to four days.

During this period, there is a fever, acute pain in the abdomen, chest, and joints. And in the intervals between attacks, patients feel absolutely healthy.

One of the peculiarities of the disease is that sometimes these symptoms, even in the same patient, can manifest themselves in a mild form. Because of this, they are often mistaken for common indigestion. This makes FMF difficult to diagnose.

According to Tamara Sargsyan, since 1972 a new era has begun in the treatment of FMF patients with the drug colchicine. Before that, 25-50 percent of patients died, the cause was a violation of protein metabolism in the kidneys.

Now, after the necessary tests, the patient is prescribed life-long use of colchicine.

He cannot cure the patient, the drug only allows living a normal life - as much as possible.

Studies have shown that seizures disappear in about 60 percent of patients with the correct medication, a partial effect is achieved in 30 percent, and treatment is ineffective in only 5-10 percent.

The first information about the periodic inflammatory syndrome among the Armenians was found in the manuscripts of the 12th century.

According to geneticist Tamara Sargsyan, from 1997 to 2021, more than 45 thousand people were examined:

"Of these, the diagnosis was confirmed in 24 433. The rest are healthy carriers of one mutation and family members of patients."

The unofficial names "Armenian", "Yerevan" disease appeared due to false ideas about it. People thought that if they left Yerevan or the country, the seizures might stop.

But over time, this myth was dispelled: there are no special differences in the symptoms of the disease among Armenians living in other countries.

Over time, people have learned more about the disease and have become less afraid and embarrassed, but still, patients want to hide their diagnosis. "

The very publication of the Armenians of Georgia admits that the Armenians, including the Armenians of Georgia, are characterized by a disease absolutely unknown to the Georgians, Azerbaijanis, and the North Caucasus peoples.

The presence or absence of this or that hereditary disease is not a reason for national exaltation or humiliation. This dry medical fact speaks simply of the origin of the people. The historical homeland of Armenians is the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, but not the territories where the Republic of Armenia is located today (this is historical Western Azerbaijan), and even less the Georgian Samtskhe-Javakheti, the entire Armenian population of which is the descendants of relatively recent newcomers who settled here after 1830.

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