Matrix Genomics » DNA testing http://matrixgenomics.com/blog empowering people through genetic knowledge Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:53:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Family history and Chronic Disease Risk Assessment http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/2009/06/family-history-and-chronic-disease-risk-assessment/ http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/2009/06/family-history-and-chronic-disease-risk-assessment/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:08:20 +0000 Elizabeth Corder, PhD http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/?p=45  
  

Coronary Artery Disease as an Example

 

Approximately 13 million Americans have coronary artery disease (CAD) and it is the leading cause of death both in the US and across the world.  While modification of many known risk factors (such as sedentary lifestyle, smoking, obesity, and high-fat diet) is effective at reducing death and complications related to CAD1, family history remains one of the strongest independent risk factors for development of this disease.2,3

 

Having a sibling or parent with CAD at least doubles your risk for developing the disease. A family history of CAD in second-degree relatives (aunts, uncles and grandparents) can also significantly impact risk.3  Further, personal, modifiable risk factors and family history act in a multiplicative fashion.2  Extended 3- to 4-generation family histories are considered by some, e.g. Helix Health of Connecticut, to be the best “genetic test” for many of these conditions.4

 

We do not support this point of view. Each person is genetically unique, deriving risk and protective factors from both parents. Matrix Genomics is able to estimate the level of inherited risk for acute myocardial infarction, a major consequence of CAD, by making a number of genetic determinations in relevant genes. The results are compared to the published high risk pattern for acute myocardial infarction.5  This defines a wide range of risk from very low to very high – that might be modified by changes in lifestyle or relevant pharmaceutical interventions. We propose this approach as a he first step in creating a personalized management plan.

 

  1. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Cad/CAD_Summary.html accessed August 28, 2007
  2. Scheuner MT, Whitworth WC, et al. Familial risk assessment for early-onset coronary heart disease. Genet Med 2006:8(8):525–531
  3. Scheuner MT, Whitworth WC, et al. Expanding the definition of a positive family history for early-onset coronary heart disease. Genet Med 2006;8(8):491-501
  4. Robin NH, Tabereaux PB, et al.  Genetic Testing in Cardiovascular Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 2007; 50(8):727-37
  5. Licastro F, Chiapelli M, Caldarera CM, Caruso C, Lio D, Corder EH. Acute myocardial infarction and proinflammatory gene variants. Ann NY Acad Sci 2007; 1119:227-242
 
]]> http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/2009/06/family-history-and-chronic-disease-risk-assessment/feed/ 0 The World of DNA Testing http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/2009/04/the-world-of-testing-for-dna/ http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/2009/04/the-world-of-testing-for-dna/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:29:12 +0000 Larry Corder, PhD http://matrixgenomics.com/blog/?p=18 This is the first post at our blog www.matrixgenomics.com.  Matrix Genomics, Inc. is a new company. It specializes in DNA tests for common health conditions that run in families. Not eveyone will be interested, e.g. some people don’t want to know their specific disease risks, for financial reasons, or because they do not view the diseases we test risk for to be particularly relevant to their own circumstances.  However, people who have a family history of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart attack, or female breast cancer may wonder about their own risk of getting these diseases and wish to find out more about where they stand. If you have these concerns, we can help you find out a great deal more about you acutual level of risk based on the genes that you inherited from your parents.

We do so by by using many genes known to be associated with a specific disease’s pattern of onset from case control studies to determine the range of risk for the disese in the population and often determines an individual’s risk on that continuum directly based on their genetic endowment. This approach is no small thing and distinguishes our company from many other genetic testing companies which look to provide information on diseases that occur primarily later in life. As a test, try to find out the range of risk used by a company when they tell you about your risk for Alzheirmer’s disease, for example. Do they multipy together results or odds ratios from very different studies to produce a result for you? Do they look a smaller or larger number of genes  to give you an idea of your genetic risk for a particular disease ? Is their range of risk specified?

At Matrix Genomics we rank each individual along a range of risk that is at least 30 fold from very low to high risk and may be 50 fold or more for some diseases. In other words, we try to capture all the variation that is currently available about genes and a particular disease to give our custormers highly informed infoprmation about their risk on a detailed disease by disease basis. This approach has sound scientific backing and it is not the cheapest possible way to measure the genetic risk of contracting disease but it does provide very good information to those who are concerned about their future and disease for any reason at all.

When I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, I was walking across a quiet residential street in the Kenwood neighborhood when Muhamed Ali nearly hit me with his car.  Neither he nor I had been focused on safety at the time. I jumped out of the way as he brought his car to a halt.  We both apologized and went on our way. Genes are certainly not completely responsible for our length of life or its quality. Accidents and environmental effects can and do have great effects on our lives. Measuring the risk of a particular disease in a meticulous manner can and should give us choices that walk hand in hand with the development of a personalized medical plan which you and your doctor can develop.

Larry Corder, Ph.D.

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