1. Based on 23andme.com, Parkinsons Disease is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's motor center. Onset of the disease becomes noticable late in life, usually after 7o years of age. There are about 1.5 million Americans affected with the diseae now. Symptoms include shaking of limbs and joints, stiffness in and slowed movement of joints, and affected balance and coordination.
The gene that has the biggest association with the disease is the LRRK2 gene. Mutations in the gene is said to cause PD. There are about 50 different variants of the gene, but the best studied on is variant rs34637584. Not all people with this variant end up with PD, even though the allele is dominant.
2. One benefit of the testing performed in such places as 23andme.com may be that it helps give clients a clue on what type of diseases they are prone for, so they can at least make attempts to minimize the onset of the possible disease.
One concern, or disadvantage of this testing is fear and unnecessary worries that the prognosis could generate. Many of the prognoses don't have a good accuracy rate due to ignorance of all the factors that cause the particular disease. Such is an example with PD.
3. If I was offered a personal DNA test, I wouldn't take it, even if it was for free. For one, there is a security concern of the possibility of the results to leak to health insurance companies or other unnecessary parties. Also, even if the results would be disturbing with horrific prognosis of a high possibility of disease such as Parkinsons, I would become unnecessarily preoccupied with trying to defeat the disease, while I could just live a healthy life now and trust God with my unpredicable future in terms of diseases.
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It is interesting to know that a lot of people are affected to this disease; about 1.5 million which is a lot.
ReplyDeletemuzhda
I agree with you, I would not take the test for the exact same reasons as you. I would prefer to try to stay healthy, rather then stress about a disease that I may or may not encounter.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I too wouldn't get the test. My grandmother has PD (for over 20 yrs now). I think that different people handle situations differently of course, and she handled the diagnosis by being very negative about everything that was to come. She is very unhappy and just wants her life to end. I remember as a child she would tell me all the symptoms that she will eventually suffer from.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I'd handle this diagnosis for myself therefore I'd rather not know this early in my life.