Blood Test to Spot Dangerous Diseases
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A company has developed a new blood test that can test for various diseases such as breast cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. There is a little debate going on about whether or not these tests are beneficial. If you know that you are going to get one of these diseases at some point in your life, how would you react? Would you want to know? Most of these diseases do not have a known cure, so knowing you will end up with a disease could be a bad influence on the rest of your life.
“The breast cancer test, to be released next year, is less invasive than a mammogram and is the first diagnostic to result from the field of proteomics, which looks for telltale proteins in a person’s blood, just as genetic tests screen for disease-causing genes.The company is also developing protein-based tests for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Currently, a conclusive Alzheimer’s test is only available at the time of death. These tests will also be out next year.” (Link)
I am curious to know, if these tests were readily available, would you willingly undergo them? I know that I would not. If there was a known cure for these diseases, then it would be a different story. However, I would not want to know if I was going to get an incurable disease later in my life.
I would love to hear opinions on either side of this issue.
-Justin
2 Comments
Randy
December 5th, 2007
at 7:54am
Looks like it is not testing that you “may” get the disease, but htat you already have the start of it. Most diseases change or dump something into your blood - these tests seem to look for the telltale protiens that cancer, Alzheimer’s, and others put into your blood. They are not genetically testing for the possibility that you are susceptible to the disease, but looking for the byproducts that you already have it. I know that if my wife would be able to take a blood test for breast cancer, it would be MUCH better than going through the mammogram each time.
I would also like to know if I was in the early stages of the other diseases - there are medications that can help slow them down, maybe lifestyle changes I would make if I knew that my time was truly “limited”.
Scott
December 5th, 2007
at 5:04pm
Knowledge is power.
Period.