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Quotes about Genetic Tests from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

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"If we need further clarification, and particularly in cases in which outcomes are not readily clear or there are high homocysteine and blood pressure levels that are resistant to treatment, we may resort to genetic tests. The blood tests we recommend and our ideal healthy zone values are listed for your reference. Refer to chapter 12 for our specific strategies on how to improve your test scores. These tests are based on blood draws your doctor can order from medical laboratories. Some are covered by insurance and some aren't." - Stephen Sinatra, M.D. and James C., M.D. Roberts, Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late (Get the book.)

"In the past 5-10 years, however, the focus has been the development of genetic tests to identify markers of lactose maldigestion. These types of tests have TABLE 3 Potential Causes of Secondary Hypolactasia Diseases Small Bowel Multisystem Iatrogenic HIV enteropathy Regional enteritis (e.g." - Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey, Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (Get the book.)

"The hope is that one day doctors will be able to administer simple genetic tests to each patient to determine what medicine will best help him or her. But such frank disclosures about the ineffectiveness of our current medicines lead one to the realization that for decades marketers have been spending heavily to sell their pills to as many patients as possible when they actually work for only a fraction of them. "If you look across all drug categories today," said Mara G." - Melody Petersen, Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs (Get the book.)

"In fact, our expensive genetic tests and neuroimaging devices have actually caused us to drift deeper into confusion and little closer to finding a cure. We are giving people false hope." - Peter J. Whitehouse and Daniel George, The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis (Get the book.)

"Polymorphic genetic tests can determine if you are prone to blood clots or excess 4-OH or 16-OH estrone production, if you have a tendency to low glutathione or other antioxidants, or if you are prone to inflammation in your vessels or a resistance to vitamin D. This is truly preventive medicine. In the ideal world of the future, all women will understand their genetic tendencies and use hormones and supplements to correct their inherited shortcomings. At present such testing is not covered by insurance, but it is a once-in-a-lifetime test, which doesn't ever need to be repeated." - Phuli Cohan, The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and Rediscover Your Inner Glow (Get the book.)

"Biotech companies are already poised to use DTC advertising to promote genetic tests. They will employ many of the same marketing strategies as the pharmaceutical companies, which is no surprise, because many of them are one in the same or linked. The promotion of genetic tests may also contribute to medicalization. A positive finding on a genetic test—that one has a gene for a particular problem (cancer, alcoholism) —may create a new medicalized status, that of "potentially ill." - Peter Conrad, The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders (Get the book.)

"Many companies are beginning to market genetic tests that make extravagant claims about their ability to predict various dietary and therapeutic avenues. In April 2006, GenSpec Labs put out a line of vitamins that purportedly addresses the needs of different races. These "targeted-nutrient" pills, as they are called, contain elevated vitamin D and zinc and are aimed at African-Americans and Hispanics—populations said to be genetically predisposed to deficiencies in those nutrients." - Peter J. Whitehouse and Daniel George, The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis (Get the book.)

"It is for people in these families that genetic tests are arguably the most useful. A positive test means you have the cancer gene, a negative test means you don't.28 But a positive test doesn't mean you definitely will get cancer, and, more important, a negative test doesn't mean you won't. Take the most familiar genetic test, for BRCAi, the abnormal gene associated with breast cancer. Consider a 30-year-old female. If she has a positive test, her risk of developing breast cancer by age 70 is around 50 percent." - H. Gilbert Welch M.D. M.P.H., Should I Be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here's Why (Get the book.) "Instead, genetic tests only identify who is at higher and lower risk?in turn raising more questions about when, whether, and how to look for cancer. If we want to test for cancer, whether by using biochemical tests, imaging studies, or genetic profiles, we must accept that there will always be a fair amount of guesswork about the right thing to do once a positive result is arrived at. Our approach to testing must reflect the fact that cancer is a complex dynamic process. If we are going to look for early cancer, we may need to study a new diagnostic strategy: watchful waiting." - H. Gilbert Welch M.D. M.P.H., Should I Be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here's Why (Get the book.)

"Although the impact of genetic medicine on medicalization still lies in the realm of potential, it is virtually certain that when the genetic contributors to problems such as obesity and baldness are identified, genetic tests and eventually treatments will follow. Obesity is an increasing problem in our society and has become more medicalized recently in a number of ways, from a spate of epidemiological studies showing the increase in obesity and body fat among Americans to the huge rise in intestinal bypass operations." - Peter Conrad, The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders (Get the book.) "The promotion of genetic tests may also contribute to medicalization. A positive finding on a genetic test—that one has a gene for a particular problem (cancer, alcoholism) —may create a new medicalized status, that of "potentially ill." This can have an impact on one's identity, social status, and insurability, and it may create new categories of precancer, prealcoholism, or similar labels. This could expand medical surveillance (D. Armstrong, 1995) and the medical gaze. CONSUMERS In our changing medical system, consumers of health care have become major players." - Peter Conrad, The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders (Get the book.)

"Genes and breast cancer There is the hope that genetic tests will identify those women at highest risk for breast cancer. A woman with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer and who carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene faces roughly an 85% lifetime risk for breast cancer and a 60% risk for ovarian cancer. These are the quoted figures. The initial assumption was that 1 in 2 high-risk women harbor a BRCA1 mutation, but it has been found that only 7 in 100 do. A report written by Dr." - Bill Sardi, You Don't Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore (Get the book.)

"The UK health advocacy group GeneWatch has already raised concern that the biotech and pharmaceutical industry may be gearing up to promote widespread genetic testing for common diseases "because it allows them to expand the market for both genetic tests and preventive medication." This group's worry is that mass gene screening may spark a new level of inappropriate medicalization, as we have already seen with osteoporosis. "Because the predictive value of most genetic tests is very low, many children could end up taking medicines that they do not need," says the report." - Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels, Selling Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All into Patients (Get the book.)

"To pinpoint the virus's identity, Lanciotti ran two kinds of genetic tests simultaneously. In one, he used assays that broadly react with either all flaviviruses (such as SLE) or all alphaviruses (such as EEE), or with a third group known as bunyaviruses. In the other, he ran genetic tests that specifically ferret out SLE and EEE. The results baffled him. The broad tests ruled out alphavirus and bunyavirus, and ruled in flavivirus. Yet his test for St. Louis encephalitis came back negative. It didn't make sense. Lanciotti wondered if he was dealing with a strange variant of SLE." - Madeline Drexler, Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections (Get the book.)

"He was going to run more-specific genetic tests. Layton was now growing concerned that a St. Louis encephalitis epidemic was under way. Although no outbreak had ever occurred in the New York area, maybe mosquitoes or infected birds had brought the disease there. The CDC advised her not to wait until the results of the additional tests came back to notify the public. Layton agreed, but also decided to order yet more-detailed analysis from the New York State lab; the more viewpoints she received the better." - Elinor Levy, Mark Fischetti, The New Killer Diseases: How the Alarming Evolution of Germs Threatens Us All (Get the book.)

"Unfortunately, many genetic tests remain relatively expensive. Because of this, you and your physician may often do just as well interpreting more common blood tests in terms of their genetic and health implications. The situation will certainly improve. In the next two to five years, genetic testing will likely become more sophisticated, more commonplace, and less expensive. 211 The Potential Downside of Genetic Testing Sadly, as genetic testing becomes a more common feature on our medical and social landscape, the risk of genetic discrimination will likely increase." - Jack Challem, Feed Your Genes Right: Eat to Turn Off Disease-Causing Genes and Slow Down Aging (Get the book.)

"Because the predictive value of most genetic tests is very low, many children could end up taking medicines that they do not need," says the report. Back in Alberta, Canada, Wendy Armstrong's concerns about bone density testing have only grown in the decade or so since she first got that worried call one snowy morning. She argues today that wasting money on needless tests and therapies may actually be threatening the future of publicly funded health care systems." - Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels, Selling Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All into Patients (Get the book.)

"What Some Nutritional, Medical, and genetic tests Might Reveal After reviewing your medical history and discussing your symptoms, a physician will likely order a variety of blood tests. These tests might point to genetic mutations, risk factors for disease, or nutritional deficiencies. These are some of the tests you might undergo: • Antioxidant Panel. This test measures blood levels of various nutrients, including vitamins E and C, beta-carotene, and other nutrients. • Antitissue Transglutaminase. A positive test for anti-tTG indicates gluten intolerance, the cause of celiac disease." - Jack Challem, Feed Your Genes Right: Eat to Turn Off Disease-Causing Genes and Slow Down Aging (Get the book.)

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