Understanding Genetic Disorders

For a disorder to be termed genetic there should be more than one person in the family affected by it

. Many of the illnesses that afflict several members of a family are caused by gene mutations that can be passed on from the parent to the child. However, there are also other disorders that affect many members of the family but are not caused by single gene mutations. Rather, environmental factors like dietary habits or a combination of environmental and genetic components are the culprit.

Recognizing a disease to be inherited is not a very easy task. To help genetics professional determine a genetic illness, he will use the family history of an individual. This includes studying the medical records of that individual as well as family members and relatives. The genetics expert will even dig further and inquire on the health condition of family members from first, second and third degrees. The first degree family members are the parents, children, brothers and sisters, while the second degree composes of grandparents, aunts and uncles, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. First cousins belong to the third degree family.

A complete medical history contains the health information about the person and his or her relatives from the three generations. It is important that each individual knows about his or her medical history because families share common factors such as their genes, environment and lifestyle, which are all helpful in providing clues to medical conditions that run in the family. Through an observation of the patterns of disorders among relatives, the physicians can ascertain whether an individual, his or her family members and children are at risk of developing a specific medical condition.

Some of the disorders that can be identified by a family medical history are high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers. These medical conditions are affected by a combination of genetic component, environmental conditions, and lifestyle selections. Knowing one's own family medical history can be helpful in determining the risk of an individual to even rarer conditions resulting from a single gene mutation like the sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis.

Nonetheless, having relatives suffering from medical condition does not imply that a person will absolutely develop that disease. Inversely, a person having no family history of a certain disease may still develop that particular condition.

Obtaining knowledge about a family medical history, which can be done simply by asking relatives about their health, enables the person to determine which genetic disorders he or she and some members of the family are predisposed to. In addition, the information can be used to determine appropriate measures to reduce the risks. If an individual has certain cancers as among the genetic illnesses, his or her healthcare provider may recommend more frequent screening at an earlier stage. Regular checkups and testing for people with genetic disorder may also be recommended, as well as changes that should be made in lifestyles. Among the lifestyle changes that need to be considered are getting regular exercise, quitting smoking and adopting a healthier diet.

by: Charles Godbout

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