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Stepping-Up Our Defenses Against Disease

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(NewsUSA) - It is often said that the best offense is a good defense. Fortunately, we live in an age in which defending our health is getting easier, thanks to breakthroughs in genetic testing.

In many ways, genetic tests are no different from traditional medical tests. They evaluate a patient's blood samples or tissue taken from inside a patient's cheek. But unlike traditional tests, they look inside the human cell -; at each patient's genes and DNA, where disease starts. By looking at an individual patient's unique DNA, doctors can better treat that individual's unique condition.

Every year, breast cancer takes the lives of some 40,000 women in the U.S. Genetic tests can now identify variations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that increase a patient's lifetime risk of breast cancer to as much as 85 percent and of ovarian cancer to as much as 60 percent. With this information, physicians can now prescribe early preventive measures, such as closer monitoring or preventive surgery, to reduce such risks. For patients who already have breast cancer, another genetic test measures the HER2 protein, which prompts excessive growth of breast cancer cells. Doctors can prescribe a gene-based treatment that reduces the risk of death for these patients by 33 percent and the risk of recurrence by 52 percent.

Genetic testing is also working on reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease -; the cause of about one in three deaths in the U.S. Tests can now identify gene variations that increase susceptibility to heart disease and heart attack. For these patients, physicians can increase the dosage of statin drugs, thus reducing their risks significantly. Other genetic tests aid physicians in more precisely prescribing dosages of a blood-thinning drug used widely by cardiovascular patients. Broad use of this test could reduce strokes by 17,000, bleeding episodes by 85,000, and costs by $1 billion annually, according to estimates from a 2006 study.

Experts say much work remains in realizing the full potential of genetic testing. But for now, such tests are helping provide a much-needed defense for many patients facing the onslaught of damaging disease.

For more information, visit http://www.labresultsforlife.org.