Predictive genetic testing is a huge leap ahead in the field and genetic illnesses. Perhaps knowing what genetic illnesses your parents and grandparents suffered from is a good indication of whether you will suffer from the illnesses too. If a parent of yours had Alzheimer’s you stand a much higher chance of developing the illness. Other conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are also known to run in families.
Family history of genetic illnesses is not however, very reliable. Many illnesses can skip generation or a are too unpredictable to be traced down a blood line. Medical professionals are able to take simple blood samples or saliva samples and carry out DNA genetic testing. Genetic health tests will trace the mutations in a person’s genetic makeup that are disease-causing.
There are reasons why People want to carry out genetic predisposition testing
If you are planning a family carrying out a predictive genetic test can inform future parents about the genetic risks their child will carry or simply the chances that any genetic illnesses the parents carry will be transferred to the child. In the cases of some diseases, if both parents carry the genes, the chances of the child inheriting and developing the illness treble. In such cases, parents might want to consider alternatives such as adoption.
Some people just want to carry out predictive genetic tests because they want to know whether they carry any disease causing genes, hoping that they can make small changes to their life to impede the diseases from developing. Predictive genetic testing test for a range of autoimmune diseases; to some ethical concerns abound.