Yesterday I was at the funeral for my grandmother-in law. I felt bad for her and the horrible diseases she had to suffer through. Yet I wonder, would she have smoked cigarettes if she knew that she would have to go through such misery in her last 9 years.
Notably she had 3 primary cancers, Lung, Colon and Renal. She had kidney failure and needed hemodialysis. She suffered from emphysema. She died with gangrene of her legs that was not operable and not treated by the strongest antibiotics known to man. Was that all due to smoking? Sort of....Smoking combined with her predispositions to disease put her in the hurt locker. Unfortunately she had to suffer for almost a decade. Why would anyone chose to smoke if they knew this was their future? I pose that question to you.
Without further ado. I will delve into the 7th round with the authors from Forbes.
What is wrong with these authors? Did they get any advice regarding these genes?
Round 7 FTO for Obesity
Yes, obesity is a horrible problem. We are getting fatter and sicker by the day. Except if you have a heart attack. There is an interesting piece of literature which says you are more likely to survive an MI if you are obese. Crazy, I know. But somehow it has to do with hormone signalling rather than the higher rate of correct medications being prescribed to them.
But we are here to talk about the risk of obesity with FTO polymoprhisms. True FTO is found in patients with obesity approximately 1 in 5. But how does that or could it change your life? If you had this gene would you eat less? If you had this gene could you take a medication? None are being investigated that will be ready in the next 20 years! This gene is also an at risk gene polymorphism for diabetes. Why didn't they mention that with the deCODE gene???? The gene called Fatso has so little published on its relevance in humans that it is obscene for them to include it here!!!
Sherpa 5.....Forbes 3
Round 8 Amplichip Testing for Pharmacogenomics.
Did anyone read the New York Times article on PGx this week? Hsien Lei had some nice coverage on it. The amplichip will be a key player in the role of psychiatric medications. This article explains this. More importantly it has received significant attention in the psychiatric journals. The American Psychiatric Association has issued guidelines for these tests already. Personally, we are going to speak with several psychiatrists about the implication in treatment that will take place today. Will this change your life? If you have depression....absolutely!
Forbes 4.....Sherpa 5
Round 9 IL-23 for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
From the article-A rare spelling change in immune-system gene strongly protects against developing this bowel disease, Yale University researcher Judy H. Cho says. No branded test is available, but some labs may test for this gene variant.
Will this gene change your life? If you have IBD, too little too late. The IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) has been found to be associated with small bowel Crohn's disease (CD) in a whole genome association study. Specifically, the rare allele of the R381Q single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) conferred protection against CD. Another change actually predisposes to IBD. Did they explain that in the article? Did they even mention the other predisposition genes? NO. They failed you here and led you up a blind path. Likely to your detriment. Should you have the protective test? what about the predisposition test?
Forbes Failed....
Sherpa 6......Forbes 4
The Sherpa Says: Please stop smoking. If you want to avoid chronic disease, it's better than any genetic test.
