Genetic Testing is Surprisingly Easy and Affordable According to Author of New Gene Patch Medicine (Oligonucleotide) Book
San Francisco, CA (5/15/13) Genetic testing showed that Angelina Jolie had an 87% chance of getting breast cancer. So Jolie had both breasts removed in a double mastectomy to prevent it. In a New York Times Op-Ed piece on May 14, 2013, she expressed a wish for all women with a family history of the disease: “It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested. If they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options.”
Angelina Jolie and gene patch medicine
Genetic testing was once something only movie stars could afford. But prices have come down so much in recent years that almost everyone can afford it, according to Dr. Stephen Shrewsbury. He recently wrote the book, Defy Your DNA: How the New Gene Patch Personalized Medicines Will Help You Overcome Your Greatest Health Challenges (10 Finger Press/2013). Shrewsbury says that a number of companies make gene testing easy and affordable. “They send you a simple spit test kit. They then test the cells in your spit for as many as 200 traits, including for breast cancer” he says. “If your test shows you have a higher risk of breast cancer, you should consider further testing for the BRCA1 and 2 genes, as Angelina Jolie did.”
Gene Patch Testing by Genetics Testing Laboratory
Companies like Genetics Testing Laboratory (www.gtldna.com) of Las Cruces, New Mexico and 23andMe of Mountain View, California let you know your risk for a wide variety of diseases, including breast cancer, diabetes, other cancers, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. The cost of testing for all of these at Genetics Testing Laboratory is $285 (reduced by 30% with a special discount voucher available to those who buy one of the first 1000 copies of Defy Your DNA).
“In some cases,” says Shrewsbury, “the test can put your mind at ease. In others, especially in terms of Alzheimer’s and heart disease, it can encourage you to make changes to lower your risks.”
Jolie’s mother died at age 56 after a ten-year long battle with cancer. Jolie had the mastectomy done in part for her children’s peace of mind.
In his book, Shrewsbury says that there are already medicines being developed so that in future surgery won’t be needed. Instead of a mastectomy, a gene patch medicine (an oligonucleotide) can be given. “These new personalized medicines will patch or fix the genetic defects that cause breast cancer. When they’re finally approved, women won’t have to have surgery in order to remain healthy.”