Gene testing?

As a society, we have evolved in many fields, before, we had no way of knowing who would have what disease and how we can avoid passing it onto our children. Now through gene testing becoming more common with the population, it’s revealing those hidden factors. They don’t have gene testing for a lot of diseases because there are too many genetic variations such as in chronic diseases (diabetes), that you can’t pinpoint one marker. Some of the gene testing is probabilities that you might or might not get it, meaning that some people have the strain, but it’s not active until some outside factor such as disease or other environmental factors influence it. Physicians use the few genetic tests that we have to target illnesses and prescribe the appropriate medications.

Most scientists question gene testing because there are too many genetic variations which we don’t have the medicine to treat it yet, even if found. Errors in testing can also have an impact on you. Gene testing is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. It is costly and it is not covered by insurance. Even if insurances are going to cover it, they’ll ask for the results of your genetic tests to keep on file. We are so big on privacy that we get angry if someone sees your medicine bottle, but you are going to let a bunch of people look at your genetic results, I don’t think so.

In this article, they mention that Medicare doesn’t pay for gene test. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid services believe that there isn’t enough evidence showing that these tests improve patient’s illness. Insurances can’t cover everything especially government provided insurances, so they have to be carefully in what they find applicable to cover. In this article, they wanted to give precise warfarin doses to each individual based on their genetic makeup. Warfarin, a blood thinner is hard to dose and any slight variations in it, will either cause blood clots or hemorrhages. We’re still far away from personalizing medicine with genetic testing such as to tailoring it to individuals and their needs. Maybe when we have more solid evidence and more participation in genetic testing, we can think about it being covered under an insurance plan.