Genetic testing can guide life decisions and prevent the development of disease.
Screening for potential genetic diseases can help a couple decide whether or not to have children; it can lead to early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease; it can relieve at-risk people of uncertainty and guide their life decisions; and genetic testing can help advance medical treatments and the understanding of disease.
There are more than 1,000 genetic tests that can be used to predict disease and disorders or confirm a diagnosis. The benefits of such testing include help in reproductive decisions, the confirmation of disease, the opportunity to take preventive options and the advancement of medical understanding and treatment of disease.
Reproductive Decisions
Genetic screening can aid in reproductive decisions and early treatment of infants.
Carrier testing refers to the screening of an individual for genetic mutations known to be involved in the inheritance of disease. A couple may choose to be screened for carrier genes so that they might make a more informed decision about whether to have children or not. If both potential parents are carriers of recessive genes, they are more likely to give birth to a child with a specific genetic disease or disorder. Some genetic diseases lead to lifetimes of suffering or early death.
Prenatal genetic testing can help guide decisions on whether to continue a pregnancy or not and help parents and physicians prepare for an affected child's early treatment if disease is identified.
Confirmation of Disease
Determining risk can help guide heathcare decisions.
When inherited diseases run through families, individuals can avoid a lifetime of uncertainty and tests with genetic testing. Such confirmation, whether negative or positive, can help guide life decisions such as those concerning career, family and health insurance coverage. Early confirmation of disease can help affected people seek appropriate treatment and take preventive measures. Genetic screening of newborns, for example, can result in early administration of antibiotics for sickle cell anemia. This greatly reduces infant death rates. Another advantage of genetic testing in newborns is that screening for phenylketonuria (a condition in which symptoms are not at first evident) can lead to dietary treatments that prevent mental retardation.
Preventive Options
Confirmed susceptibility can help people make better lifestyle choices.
Genetic testing can identify genes that put people at risk for developing certain disorders and diseases. A negative result in susceptibility testing can provide relief for people who have continual examinations such as colonoscopies because of the prevalence or related disease in their families. Such predictive genetic testing can help people with confirmed susceptibility take preventive measures. Those at risk for colon cancer, for example, can have frequent check-ups and removal of growths to limit fatalities, according to the Human Genome Project (HGP). They can take care to eat well and exercise to lower their risk of dying from colon cancer.
Understanding the Links Between Susceptibility and Environment
Genetic testing may lead to the development of new treatments and cures.
Susceptibility tests are controversial because they give a probability estimate for developing a certain condition, yet not all at-risk people go on to develop the disease. Even with identifiable genetic mutations, some people never develop the disease. Genetic screening can help scientists understand what environmental factors and other mutations contribute to the development of disease. In addition, identifying all the genetic mutations of a gene can help scientists understand how a disease develops and progresses in the body. This can lead to the development of new treatments and possible cures.
Tags: genetic testing, genetic mutations, Genetic screening, genetic testing help, help guide, life decisions
