Why do people get tested for diseases that have no cure?
There are three main reasons: 1. Sometimes therapies can delay the onset of a disease. 2. You might want to know for family planning purposes. For example, everyone has two copies of the cystic fibrosis gene, one from mom and one from dad. It takes two changed copies of the cystic fibrosis gene to have the disease. If you have one normal copy and one changed copy, you won’t have any symptoms. However, you could pass on your changed copy of the gene to your child. If the other parent also passes on a changed copy, then your child will have two changed copies and have cystic fibrosis. Some diseases can be detected prior to birth. This gives parents time to decide whether to continue the pregnancy or not and to prepare for the medical needs of the child. 3. New therapies to treat diseases are being developed at a rapid pace. If you learn you have an increased risk of a certain genetic disease, you and your doctor can watch for news of possible preventions or treatments.
There are three main reasons: Sometimes therapies can delay the onset of a disease. You might want to know for family planning purposes. For example, everyone has two copies of the cystic fibrosis gene, one from mom and one from dad. It takes two changed copies of the cystic fibrosis gene to have the disease. If you have one normal copy and one changed copy, you won’t have any symptoms. However, you could pass on your changed copy of the gene to your child. If the other parent also passes on a changed copy, then your child will have two changed copies and have cystic fibrosis. Some diseases can be detected prior to birth. This gives parents time to decide whether to continue the pregnancy or not and to prepare for the medical needs of the child. New therapies to treat diseases are being developed at a rapid pace. If you learn you have an increased risk of a certain genetic disease, you and your doctor can watch for news of possible preventions or treatments. How expensive are the tests
