Genetic Testing has been in practiced for long to help determine various diseases. Most tests look at single genes and are used to diagnose uncommon genetic disorders. A number of tests also look at numerous genes that may trigger or reduce the risk of a person to common diseases such as cancer or diabetes. Additionally, some genetic tests look at rare genetic variants (brca1 and brca2) that are liable to cause some hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. These tests and other purpose of genomic technologies have the ability to help avert common diseases and improve the health of individuals. Predictive gene testing can help ascertain the possibility of developing common diseases and pharmacogenetic tests are used to help identify genetic variations that can influence a person’s response to medicines.
When Do Doctors Recommend Genetic Testing?
A doctor may recommend genetic testing for any of the following reasons:
If a relative has an inherited disease or illness – some people are carriers of genetic diseases even though some of these illnesses may not manifest themselves. Some genetic illnesses are recessive in nature which means that they only show if an individual inherits two of the problem gene from each parent. A person who inherits one problem gene from one parent but a normal gene from the other parent will not have symptoms of a recessive illness but has a 50% chance or possibility of passing the problem gene on to their children.
A person already has one child with a severe birth defect - a child with a severe birth defect does not mean that he has genetic problems. Oftentimes, birth defects are brought about by exposure to toxins, infection or physical trauma before birth. Even if a child does have a genetic problem, there is always a possibility that it was not passed on and it happened because of some unprompted error in the child’s cells and not from the parents’ cells.
A woman has had two or more miscarriages - some miscarriages may be due to a genetic problem.
A woman has delivered a stillborn child with physical signs of a genetic disease - Many severe genetic diseases can cause physical disorders.
A child has medical problems that might be genetic - if a child has medical problems that involve more than one body system, genetic testing may be advised to ascertain the cause.
A child has medical problems that are established as a specific genetic syndrome – a genetic testing is performed to confirm the findings. This also helps identify the severity of the problem and can help in associating the most suitable treatment.
For further discussion, please visit this link: http://www.outsmartyourgenes.com
About Me
- Dr.DNA
- Dr. DNA, is a Medical doctor and Geneticist at the forefront of the Genetic Revolution. He founded and runs a groundbreaking Predictive Medicine practice that focuses on the personalized prevention of disease through the use of genetic technology. Dr.DNA has been involved in the genetics field for over 12 years, first as a researcher and now as a practicing physician who is pioneering the groundbreaking field of Predictive Medicine. He has conducted extensive research in the field of comprehensive genetic analysis and invented his own clinical genechip configuration, one of the first in the world that is capable of assessing a person's risk of hundreds of diseases at a single time.