San
Diego’s Scripps Translational
Science Institute announced its decision to conduct a study that will help
determine whether people who undergo genetic testing and receive information on
their genetic risks decide to change their lifestyle and behaviours and seek
further medical evaluation and preventive strategies.
The Scripps study will enrol 10,000 Scripps
Health hospital chain employees, family members and friends. Participants will
receive a scan of their genome and an analysis of their genetic risks for health
conditions like diabetes, obesity, heart attack and some types of cancer. The
research will asses the changes in lifestyle and behaviours over a 20-year
period.
The study is backed by three health-care
and technology companies: Affymetrix Inc, Navigenics Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Affymetrix
will run the genome scan and Navigenics will provide interpretation of the
results to the participants. Participants’ analysis and results will be stored on
Microsoft’s Health Vault, a Web-based electronic medical-record system provided
by Microsoft.
Participants will receive guidance on how
to use the scan results to improve health outcomes, such as suggestions for
breast and colon cancer screenings if they are at high risk for a form of
breast cancer, or colon cancer. Researchers will register the results of each
individual after three months, at the end of the first year and then annually
for the next 19 years.
At the end of the study, Scripps hopes to offer
an answer to the dilemma about the long-term psychological reactions and
behaviours of people undergoing genetic testing. In other words, what do people
do after they learn their genetic risk levels of developing medical conditions
like diabetes, cancer, or Alzheimer’s disease?
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