Meanwhile if you actually want to measure your propensity to disease and do something about it (or demand politicians do), you’d be better off looking at your microbiome, your metabolites, or - more than anything - your wider environment - rather than your genes. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...
Had a visit to genetics because of weird inexplicable health issues and all that did was find out that I have the genetic markers for Beals syndrome. I do not have any of the symptoms of Beals. I still don't know why I am experiencing the issues I went to genetics for in the first place.
I had my gut microbiome analysed and learned an awful lot from it (without any medics), which I have already put into practice. In my case necessary, as medics still tell me (after 5 years) that they have no idea what #LongCovid is, let alone how to help/support me.
Can’t help wondering if the real draw of personalised medicine is not so much “you are predestined to get sick but we can help” as “you are in the market segment that can better tolerate this troublingly toxic pharmaceutical we’d like to sell”
More likely "you're going to cost us a lot of money in the future, so best we head that off by reducing our investment in you now, since we know you're going to be a burden". Like the DNR orders we got slapped with during early COVID without our consent.
Also means we deflect from the pressure to solve more expensive problems like poor housing.
Genomic testing might not change prevention advice, but it does change risk factors. Very useful for calculating insurance premiums.
Ho, hum 🙄
How handy for the pro-insurance crypto-fascist this government appears to be warming the bed for.
bsky.app/profile/davi...
I agree with you up to this point. It has been massively overhyped and helps ppl ignore other factors and public health measures. But there are *some* use cases where it means we can predict (to an extent) when someone either won't respond or will get toxicity so give them something else.
Someone sent me an interesting paper about IV gentamicin and possible genetic disposition to ototocity in newborns - but that was a highly targetted test being done at point of care (without delaying treatment) which is a v different scenario from blanket genomics. Interested in other example papers
Yes def targetted tests (not whole genome) can be useful for drug metabolising enzymes and transporters because these influence the plasma concentration of drug which in turn determines whether the effect is beneficial or toxic (or non-existent). eg bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
However... these enzymes and transporters are also strongly influenced by many non-genetic factors - I co-authored a scoping review on this in relation to supposed inter-ethnic differences. doi.org/10.1002/prp2... And I don't think we really know the relative importance of these clinically.
That’s all fantastically helpful - thank you!
Thank you, very informative. There is little benefit in knowing genetic propensity. Targeted medicine OTOH saves lives. Streeting won't put more resource into that. His backers don't make money that way. One sleazy neoliberal Govt after another all putting Corporate interests above the public. 🤕
Or first in line for assisted dying as we don't want you to suffer..
I suppose he could have asked National Screening Committee first. All screening is harmful some has benefits some benefits can outweigh harms and if you’re lucky it could be a good use of scarce NHS resources.
Or, if they introduce health insurance model to UK: "sorry that condition is excluded from your insurance" ( because the data WILL get into the wrong hands.
Precisely