Genetics Learning Center
Knowledge is the key to overcome disease.
Your Genes, Your Health
Genes and Health Just as genes contribute to your unique traits, genes also play a role in your health. Sometimes a mutation or variation in your DNA can cause your body to function improperly and develop a disease. There are many different ways genetic mutations can contribute to diseases. Some mutations can cause disease early in life such as cystic fibrosis in newborns. Other mutations go unnoticed until they affect your health later in life such as cancer or Alzheimer’s disease.
Learning about your genes can help you determine your risks for developing diseases. Family history and genetic tests are two tools to help you learn about your genes and find out your health risks. Genes do not always determine your health destiny. Many diseases are caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Many times you can influence your genetic health risks by changing the environmental factors (e.g. smoking, diet, medicine, etc.), which also affect your health. The key is to learn about your personal health risks and create a personalized action plan to manage those health risks.
Personalized healthcare is a new practice of medicine which uses family history and genetics to tailor screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases to the individual based on their genetic makeup and history. By tailoring to your specific needs, personalized healthcare is able to deliver the ‘right treatment, to the right person, at the right time’ resulting in better health for you. Informed Medical Decisions, Inc. is among the pioneers of personalized healthcare. Our genetic counselors help you and your doctor ‘translate family history and genetics into personalized healthcare.’ One of the first and important steps to personalized healthcare is organizing your family health history. |
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