“Propensity to disease” is a very broad term in the health law realm. Should “pr
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Question
“Propensity to disease” is a very broad term in the health law realm. Should “propensity to disease” be limited to those instances in which there exists a clear physical marker (chemical or biological) of an identified health problem potentially on the horizon, or is it also acceptable (legally justifiable) to include other indicators less concrete such as “family history” where there may be statistical evidence (or not?), however, no known physical marker has been clearly identified at present? Secondly, is it fundamentally fair to deny an individual a verdict of “good health” (legally speaking) specifically and ONLY because of a genetic predisposition to a particular disease?
Explanation / Answer
Propensity to disease: The main differences between two individuals are due to the presence of single nucleotide changes or polymorphisms (SNPs), DNA sequence variations in the genome. SNPs, the most common type of genetic variation among people, are being increasingly recognized as playing a major role in phenotype variations, such as eye and hair color, muscle tone, as well as susceptibility to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and mental disorders.
The more scientists know what SNPs’ functions are, the easier it would be to understand the tremendous variability in individuals’ responses to drug treatments such as why some drugs are life saving for some people but cause serious side effects in others. A genetic predisposition is an increased of developing a particular disease based on a person's genetic makeup. The genetic changes contribute to the development of a disease but do not directly cause it. Some people with a predisposing genetic variation will never get the disease while the other will, even within the same family genetic variations can have large or small effects on the likelihood of developing particular disease. The risk of disease also depends on lifestyle and environmental factors.
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