Genetic Testing & Its Effect on Healthcare

The current approach to health care is one of reaction rather than proaction. A patient doesn't feel well, goes to the doctor and is diagnosed with an illness. By this time, it's frequently too late. Genetic testing can make medical care more personalized by preventing disease. Such personalized medicine may provide the best health care possible at an individual level.

Early Diagnosis

• If genetic testing indicates that a person might develop a disease, that person can take the necessary steps to ward off the illness. But if he does develop the disease despite preventive care, his doctors can avoid expensive and possibly useless medical tests, since they are aware of the patient's genetic tendency toward the disease. Time looking at other causes of symptoms is valuable and could go toward treating and possibly eliminating the disease.

Elimination of Trial and Error

• For serious diseases such as cancer, the trial and error involved in treatment could be eliminated by genetic testing. Pharmaceuticals could be tailored to an individual's specific needs. The time involved with such trial and error would not be wasted, leading to a better possible outcome.

Drug Efficiency

• Genetic testing can help pharmaceutical companies to create drugs specifically for individuals. A patient's genetic make-up can contribute to how well a specific drug will work. When scientists know this make-up in advance, they can create the drug to work best for that one patient.

Research

• Knowledge of the human genome has brought the discovery of disease mechanisms and identified genetic markers that help doctors diagnose illness. Ongoing research based on genetic testing holds great potential for discovering cures to currently life-threatening diseases.

Cost Reduction

• Full-blown diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and heart disease are expensive system-wide. With the use of genetic testing, doctors could identify tendency toward a disease and help patients minimize their chances of developing it. When the population is healthier, health care costs are lower.

Ethical Concern

• The National Human Genome Research Institute warns that professionals must study the ethical and legal issues involved so that people don't lose health insurance or jobs simply because of a genetic tendency.