Once again about the futility of genetic testing

Geneticists warn: DNA analysis does not make senseBBC
DNA analysis aimed at identifying a tendency to certain diseases does not make practical sense, Australian doctors warn.

A group of genetic scientists from the Clinical Research Center of the University of Queensland published their appeal in the journal PLoS Medicine. Experts urge not to overestimate the importance of genetic tests, which very rarely can tell patients any useful information.

According to the authors of the appeal, well-known risk factors: smoking, sedentary lifestyle, age, high blood pressure, as well as family history give a much more accurate and reliable forecast of a patient's propensity to a particular disease than the analysis of his genome.

"Studies of diabetes, heart disease and various types of cancer have revealed a large number of genes associated with the risk of developing these diseases," Wayne Hall, the head of the team of scientists, said in an interview with Reuters. "However, the responsibility of any of these genes for increasing the risk is often very small... this is not the information on the basis of which you can take any action."

"Practically useless"Currently, long-term studies are being conducted, during which doctors track large groups of patients with one or another mutated gene, trying to understand the mechanisms of their activation that lead to the development of diseases.

However, no fundamentally significant patterns have yet been identified, Hall emphasizes.

"In general, genetic information does not improve the quality of the prognosis [of health] made taking into account existing risk factors," the scientist says.

"Knowing that a patient smokes, as well as his blood pressure, gender, age and medical history of family members, we can predict the development of certain diseases with a high degree of probability – usually more accurately than using genetic information," he concludes.

The reason for the appeal of Australian doctors to the population was an obsessive advertising campaign on the Internet by several companies offering customers to determine the propensity for certain diseases using DNA analysis.

"Personally, I wouldn't pay for any of these tests myself," Hall said in an interview with Reuters.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru14.10.2010