genetic testing bipolar
Health insurance can be a bit expensive when you fill in forms that the state of your family has a history of several diseases. This is because the assumption is that if it's in the family, then you have a higher risk of developing, but not always true and it is fair that insurance premiums rise because of it?
One thing that could help medical insurance companies and, more importantly, the health of the nation, is the new research findings published recently by scientists conducting the largest genetic study ever attempted. The Guardian reports that scientists made great strides in identifying the genes that put us all at greater risk of developing various diseases. This information is essential in the quest to find cures for these diseases.
The human genome project was completed in 2000, which assigns all the genes in the human body and scientists have also been able to identify genetic variants rare cause diseases like cystic fibrosis and many others.
In a study of the staggering costs of £ 9 million, 17,000 people participated in 50 research groups and found 24 new genetic links to Crohn's disease, bipolar disorder (manic depression), type 1 and 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis. Certain genes had been identified as a link with these diseases and increasing research results permit more intensive and therefore more likely to find a cure.
A test of this scale has never been carried out before and has been hailed as offering many advances, especially in the fields of diabetes. For each disease being tested, samples of 2,000 patients underwent compared with 3000 and "control" samples of healthy patients. Looked at 500,000 genetic differences. Such research is vital to show that scientists should be starting on the road to finding cures, treatments or diagnoses.
If a patient can be identified by their genes with a higher risk of any disease in particular, this gives them the option to make lifestyle changes and preventive measures. This is because scientists admit that the study of genes is only the beginning. Many diseases develop only in a person with a higher risk if other, environmental factors are in place. Diet and general health also play a role in whether a disease develops and results of recent studies are given to patients and physicians a much wider scope to prevent or cure.
Eight new found genetic links to Crohn's disease. This disease affects more than 60,000 people in the UK and genetic links to bring a 40% increase in risk. Diabetes affects more than 2 million people in the UK and four new genes linked to the disease have been discovered.
Up to 100 million people worldwide suffer from bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) and genetics have been found to play a key role in nerve cells in the brain of work that could lead to better medicine, or even a cure. With coronary disease that claims than 105,000 lives each year in Britain alone, several new genetic links have been discovered through this study and three new genes identified to high blood pressure.
For those with rheumatoid arthritis, three possible locations in the genome that play a role in people who develop this condition have been found. It is important to remember not just save the life of this study is being conducted for, but for a better quality of life for patients and prevention of disease development in the first place.
About the Author:
Health expert Catherine Harvey looks at genetic testing results and how they can help reduce medical insurance premiums.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – New Genetic Research Makes Breakthroughs
