Worried About Your Family Medical History? How Genetic Testing Can Give You Answers
Genes play a huge role in who you are. They determine the essence of who you are, from your athletic ability to hair colour to your likelihood of inheriting certain diseases from your parents. Sadly, as well as inheriting your personal characteristics, gene 'changes’ can be passed down, increasing the risk of developing illnesses like cancer.
Many families are aware of a condition or disease that appears to run in the family, but at what point should you worry? Anyone concerned about themselves or a loved one being at risk of developing an inherited disease should take the following steps.
Learn Your Family Health History
Your first task when attempting to determine risk is to learn the health history of as many of your close relatives as you can, including your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. You're looking for details of major illnesses, such as heart problems, cancers and disorders like hypercholesterolemia. In particular it is valuable to have documentation confirming any genetic investigations undertaken and the results of the same.
Other useful information to gather includes the age of diagnosis, age of death, cause of death, ethnic background and the number of close relatives experiencing the same type of problem.
Learn Which Diseases Are Inheritable
While the pattern of inheritance of certain diseases is relatively easy to follow, others are much more complex. While some inherited diseases can be passed on by a single gene change from one or both parents, others are much more complex than that. The type of diseases and disorders with complex inheritance patterns include the following:
Dementia
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Multiple sclerosis
Alzheimer's disease
Spina bifida
Parkinson's disease
Arthritis
Should there be three or more people from just one side of your family who’ve experienced any of these types of diseases, it’s important to talk to your doctor who may suggest changes to your lifestyle, diet and/or environment.
What should also be recommended is genetic testing, although this recommendation is in no way a confirmation that you have or will ever develop an inherited disease. Genetic testing, however, will provide a clear picture of your risk.
Genetics.ie - Offering Life’s Important Answers
At Genetics.ie, we offer a wide range of genetic testing services from our Blackrock Clinic under the supervision of the highly experienced Dr Willie Reardon. We understand how worrying it can be to face these kinds of issues, but our team is on hand to provide the reassurance and expert insight you need.
To find out more about us and what we do, visit us online today at www.genetics.ie. Alternatively, to chat with our team, call 087 4037149 or enter your enquiry details into our contact form and we’ll respond as quickly as possible.