Everything looked great on the blood work completed at my last check-up.  However, the hematologist wants me to consider genetic testing based on my recent health issues.   Apparently there is a new recommendation to check a patient’s DNA if they had breast cancer before the age of 45, whether or not there’s a family history of breast cancer.  Oh brother.

This makes me uncomfortable because there is some danger….not in what genetic testing reveals, but in what we believe it will reveal. Also, I am not sure that genetic testing will really give any particular new insight into a person’s biology and future.

I’ve tried to do a little research and consider the pros and cons.  Some people raise the issue of ethics.  The positive side of all this is… if we are aware of any genetic mutations or not, we can be a bit more proactive in our health care since we have the information.

One of the Google founders, Sergey Brin, found out he has a high risk of developing Parkinson disease after genetic testing was done.   Too much information?  I haven’t decided yet for myself.