Do You Want To Know?

I read an interesting article today about a girl who is going to be tested to see if she has the gene for Huntington's (sp?)  Disease.  Apparently this is a nasty disease that is passed down from one generation to the next.  She says if she has the gene she will choose not to have children so that it will not be passed down to the next generation.  The article got me to wondering if I would want to know. 

The Human Genome Project in 2003 identified 20 to 25 thousand different genes, and researchers have been identifing ones that play roles in diseases ever since, everything from Altzheimers to some cancers.  Would you take a test to see if you were going to get some sickness?  I could see it if I knew something ran in my family.  It may have influenced my decision to have kids.  I can see how it could also influence how you would lead yor life.  If they can tell me I'm going to die, or I'm going to have some dibilitating disease, I might do some things a bit different, as far as lifestyle and planning.  If I'm going to get something that severly limits me later in life, I might cram as much as I can in while I still can (probably not a bad idea anyways!).  I suppose you could make some changes in your daily life to try and prevent a disease or to lesson its effects.  Of course, would you really want to go through life knowing that you are destined to get cancer or some other disease?

Then you need to think about privicy issues.  What if employers are allowed to give you tests to see if your likely to get something?  What if insurance companies are allowed to give tests to see when your going to need long term care, or when your going to die?  Preventing sickness and disease is much less expensive than treating it, so if they know beforehand, maybe they can stop it from happening?

Finally, what if they're wrong?  What if I take some genaric test that says I'll get cancer and be dead by the time I'm 60?  If they tell me that now, I'm done with work and I'm doing as much as I can to enjoy myself.  Heck, I might just as well die broke.  And they were wrong and I don't die from cancer---happy to be alive, irritated I'm broke though.....Or what if I never had kids for some disease I might pass on, but I didn't really have it?

 It's an interesting question, something everyone will answer for themselves for different reasons.  I am amazed at all the things that science is doing --among other things that amaze me.  I believe that I will be passing on all these tests, and let the chips fall where they may. I'm lucky I don't have any history of these disease in my family.  My answer may be different if I did.