http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/22/Kids.test.gene.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
This article is mainly about whether or not it is ethical to test children for breast cancer gene mutations. Like anything else, there are many pros and cons to this. It has shown that talking about testing and inherited cancer risks with teens can help some quit smoking, limit alcohol use, and avoid birth control pills (which raises the risk of breast cancer but lowers the risk of ovarian). A con is the effect it may put on family members and the BRCA gene test can cost up to three thousand dollars. If either parents has the BRCA gene mutation, the child has a fifty-fifty chance of getting it. To lower risks, women can take anti-estrogen drugs or have their breasts or ovaries removed, but these measures are not advised for young women. Should parents tests their young children or should they leave it up to their children for when they are older?
I believe that I would not want to know if I had the risk of getting cancer. If I did decide to get tested for it, I would want to wait till I was in my twenties. Growing up is hard enough, never mind having to worry about any little thing that bothers you in your body. I feel that no child should have to feel like they are "waiting" for cancer to take over their body. Everything happens for a reason, and I would rather live my life to the fullest and enjoy every minute I have of it instead of dreading the possibility of cancer constantly in the back of my mind.
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I agree with having to wait. I actually have experienced this.. my dad had cardio myopathy and its genetic. He had to get a heart transplant in 2005, and doctors advised my sister and I to get tested to see if we carried the gene. We both opted out of it at the time, because we felt it would cause more harm than good, as nothing could be done if we did have the gene.. until conditions worsened. Why put the stress on someone and have to live with it.. until the time gets to bad to deal with it.
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