Would you want to
test your DNA to predict whether you would one
day develop cancer, Alzheimer’s or other
diseases? Consumers may soon be able to purchase
genetic testing kits that might provide this
information. Or might not.
Smart patients should be seeing red flags and
protecting their wallets.
Some background: Certain genetic tests can give
us useful information. DNA testing used for law
enforcement or legal purposes helps solve crimes
or establish parenthood. Other genetic tests can
ascertain a man and woman’s likelihood of giving
birth to a baby with a genetic abnormality. BRCA
gene tests help women determine their risk for
breast or ovarian cancer. These tests are well
worth the cost and efforts when indicated.
Now, new tests are becoming available to
determine risk for Alzheimer’s, lung cancer and
others. But smart patients need to ask
additional questions about both the cost and
these tests’ dubious outcomes.
First – how reliable are the results? Genetic
tests offered directly to consumers may not be
so credible. There is no entity, like the FDA,
that oversees the development or manufacture of
these tests, and there is no objective,
scientific group determining their accuracy.
Suppose your genes suggest a 60 percent chance
of developing Disease X. How will you ever know
if it was right or wrong?
Even if the results are someday deemed to be
highly accurate, they won’t be useful unless you
know what your possible next steps might be. A
genetic test could tell you that you have a 60
percent chance of developing Alzheimer’s
Disease. But what will you do next? Eat
healthier foods? Stop smoking? Get more
exercise? Do a crossword puzzle every day? Those
steps are healthy regardless of what your genes
tell you. Plus you’ll have that dread-disease
apparition hanging over you for the rest of your
life.
Bottom line for smart patients – investing in
genetic testing that produces usable results may
well be worth it. But spending money and
emotional capital on this form of testing for
questionable results that don’t suggest useful
next steps anyway, can end up being costly to
both your wallet and your psyche.
Making decisions about your desire for genetic
testing might better be based on peace-of-mind.
For most of us, today, that will mean making
healthy choices and spending our money
elsewhere, too.
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Learn more about genetic testing and how it
will affect the future of medical care.
