What Are The Pros And Cons Of Finding Out Your Genetic Makeup? Nih 2016

Genetic testing, when appropriate, is a powerful tool to approximate a patient's risk for affliction. A Michigan Medicine genetic counselor explains the procedure.

On the surface, the concept seems like a no-brainer: A sample of claret or saliva tin offering clues to your torso'due south genetic defects, a road map to predicting future issues ranging from Alzheimer's illness to cancer.

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But put into practice, genetic testing is more than nuanced.

The results, after all, might non be what patients desire to hear — especially because they could reveal an inherited mutation that puts themselves or their kids at run a risk. And since each parent contributes l pct to a child'southward Dna, two siblings may take unlike test results.

"The scientific discipline is easy to process; the emotional component is not," says Rajani Aatre, M.S., M.Sc., a genetic counselor at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center.

"Permit's say you lot find out your kid got something because yous passed information technology downward. No matter how much you intellectualize it, y'all tin't ever discount that the feeling of responsibility or guilt won't bear upon you."

Still, she says, there is ability in knowledge: It allows recipients to be proactive almost their own health — and to aid make up one's mind if other family members are at take a chance.

And as sensation of genetic mutations grows, testing mechanisms have become quicker, cheaper and more than precise.

"It's merely exploded," says Aatre. "The kind of tests we have today weren't even possible twenty years ago."

But the conclusion to get a exam, she notes, shouldn't be made lightly. It's why virtually people first need a recommendation from their primary care physician.

They'll as well run into with a certified genetic counselor to explicate the process and the many considerations that come with getting the detailed analysis.

"Most people, once they've understood that, want to practise information technology," says Aatre, who explained some of the pros and cons of genetic testing she discusses with patients:

Pros of genetic testing

It offers insight: With genetic testing, "we're targeting the coding office of the gene that is relevant to your particular affliction," Aatre says. That, she notes, involves reading a Dna sequence from start to finish to see if at that place are any "interruptions/disruptions" — mutations associated with the affliction in question — that stop the gene from making normal proteins.

Incertitude is lessened: Worried about a futurity ailment? Knowing that a particular mutation is absent tin help people ease feet virtually their own health and that of their children. "A big part of genetic testing is trying to determine who else in the family is at hazard," Aatre says. "But yous're too providing reassurance."

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You can take action: A clearer portrait of risk tin can guide medical care. "Certain genes are associated with more severe diseases," Aatre says. "Some genes respond to sure medications and treatments improve." That, depending on circumstance, might lead to additional diagnostic testing or monitoring, healthful lifestyle shifts or getting family members tested.

Bigotry is (generally) protected: Genetic testing results will appear on your medical record. That'south why several anti-bigotry laws protect recipients, notably the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Human activity of 2008, which prohibits employers using that data to hire, fire or promote and health insurance companies from using it every bit a pre-existing condition. Notable exceptions: Disability, life and long-term intendance insurance could exist afflicted.

Michigan Medicine genetic counselor Rajani Aatre M.South., M.Sc., right, and her colleagues.

Cons of genetic testing

Not everyone is eligible: To get tested, a loved one must already take been affected past a illness or disorder — and been genetically tested, too. The reason? "Y'all demand to know what to go after," Aatre says. Everyone's torso has vii to x nonworking/altered genes, she notes, then family and clinical history must dictate when and where to focus attending (and avoid unnecessary anxiety).

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It isn't a full-trunk review: Testing is targeted: "When someone walks in my door, I'm not going to screen them for everything on the planet," Aatre says. "Without clear markers, you lot're opening Pandora's box." A patient whose parent was tested for a genetic heart condition, for example, wouldn't be a candidate for BRCA 1 or 2 testing to make up one's mind chest cancer adventure.

Testing can exist plush: The cost of genetic testing ranges from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. "They're cheaper than they used to exist only are however very expensive," Aatre says. Still, insurance typically covers such tests for newborns and expectant mothers, likewise as patients with a documented personal or family unit history or a physician'due south recommendation.

Results may trigger emotions: Finding out that a gene mutation is absent can offer a deep sense of relief. And others who find out that they are carriers can accept comfort in having more control. Still, says Aatre: "This crystal brawl, of a sudden, can popular in front of you." That may spark deep feelings of guilt (regardless of findings) or difficult decisions.

For more data or to make an engagement for genetic counseling or testing at the Frankel Cardiovascular Eye, phone call 888-287-1082.

Source: https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/health-management/pros-and-cons-of-genetic-testing-what-to-know-before-you-go

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