Pros And Cons Of Genetic Testing

Have you ever heard of the term genetics? How about genetic testing? If you haven’t even a clue as to what these two terms mean, I’ll dive into it with a brief summary. Genetics itself is the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics, while genetic testing is the sequencing of human DNA in order to discover any genetic differences, anomalies, or mutations that may prove to be pathological. Genetic testing is usually conducted by a medical professional, such as a genetic counselor, though that isn’t the case anymore. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing, which is offered by several different companies, doesn’t require any sort of medical professional and can be performed by a single person. There is of course other benefits to this type of genetic testing, though there are more positives if you were to choose to go to a medical

If you don’t already know what Alzheimer's is, it’s a disease that results in memory loss and even confusion, due to the loss of connections between nerve cells in the brain and the death of these nerve cells. APOE is actually one of the many genes that can directly influence your chances of getting Alzheimer’s. There are actually three types of the APOE gene: APOE2, APOE3, and APOE4. APOE4 is actually one of the types that increase your chances for Alzheimer’s and lowers the actual age of onset. When testing for Alzheimer’s, it's not all that different than if you were doing it with a different disease. APOE predictive testing is actually not recommended, as said by the Alzheimer’s Society here: “The poor predictive value of is why APOE is not recommended (outside research studies) or available within the NHS” (Society). Regional genetics clinics are actually offer testing to those who have a family history with dementia, so that's nice to