This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hedera, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hedera, P. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Ethical Principles and Pitfalls of Genetic Testing for Dementia

Progress in the genetics of dementing disorders and the availability of clinical tests for practicing physicians increase the need for a better understanding of multifaceted issues associated with genetic testing. The genetics of demen tia is complex, and genetic testing is fraught with many ethical concerns. Genetic testing can be considered for patients with a family history suggestive of a single gene disorder as a cause of dementia. Testing of affected patients should be accompanied by competent genetic counseling that focuses on probabilistic implications for at-risk first- degree relatives. Predictive testing of at-risk asymptomatic patients should be modeled after presymptomatic testing for Huntington's disease. Testing using susceptibility genes has only a limited diagnostic value at present because potential improvement in diagnostic accuracy does not justify potentially negative consequences for first-degree relatives. Predictive testing of unaffected subjects using susceptibility genes is currently not recommended because individual risk cannot be quantified and there are no therapeutic interventions for dementia in presymptomatic patients. ( J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2001; 14:213-221).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?