Genetic Profiling - what will we do when we get there?

http://www.arthritis.org/two-genes-linked-to-ra.php 

 

Breakthroughs in genetic research are rapidly bringing us closer to early diagnosis of mysterious illnesses and will soon improve our ability to target specific drugs towards individual patients. Our current approach of using 'randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled' clinical trials to prove efficacy and safety of new drugs will become obsolete due to genetic advances. No longer will I have to prescribe a drug to a patient because it worked for 60 out of 100 people in a clinical trial. The other 40 will soon have a voice - a genetic language - that we will be able to read.

 

Welcome to the era of 'personalized medicine'.   

 

When treating a patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I have about ten good drugs to choose from but there is no way to match the right drug with the right patient. So we just shoot in the dark and if it doesn't work we try again. Genetic research holds the promise to change all that and improve our accuracy.

 

It will however, undoubtedly also open the door for abuse and discrimination as well. If you don't like racial profiling, wait for the day when we have genetic profiling. Will insurers charge a higher premium for having "bad" genes? Will people stock pile a drug that they predictably will need tomorrow? Will your boy friend reject you because of your genes? Will your children sue you because you married each other while you knew that your future kids were going to be 'genetic disasters'? 

 

http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=5599 

 

Let arthritis slow you down - what's the rush?

http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20110107/HEALTH01/101090303/Don-t-let-arthritis-slow-you-down

Researchers think Rheumatoid Arthritis is becoming more prevalent. That may or may not be true. The rise in numbers may just reflect increased awareness and improved diagnosis over the last decade. Osteoarthritis is definitely on the rise, and so is Gout and other types of arthritis as we are becoming an older fatter species.

Everything I needed to know about arthritis, I learned from my grandmother! (Just kidding). But she did live 85 healthy years, survived tuberculosis without treatment, and died without arthritis or diabetes or heart disease or cataracts or dentures. She was thin, she worked hard, she was a vegetarian, she fasted all the time and prayed all the time.

The author of the article referenced above asks you to diet and exercise and tai chi. Original isn't it? Grandma never followed a diet (other than being a vegetarian). In fact she would sneak in some butter when nobody was looking! She never exercised and had no clue where China is. Tai Chi to her would be Chai Tea misspelled. So what was her secret to good health? Well she lived a hard life. She ate hard foods. Slept on a hard bed. Never saw her on the couch. And she was constantly on the move. She walked slow but never stopped.

And that is my message from her to you: Let the arthritis slow you down. What's the rush? But don't stop, keep moving. A lot is happening in arthritis research. there is lots to look forward to. Stay tuned.