Chapter 15
Genetic Counseling, Risk Assessment, and Genetic Testing
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding what genetic counselors do
Examining family trees for different kinds of inheritance
Using inheritance patterns to determine the chance of inheriting a trait or genetic disorder
Exploring options for genetic testing
If you’re thinking of starting a family or adding to your brood, you may be wondering what your little ones will look like. Will they get your eyes or your dad’s hairline? If you know your family’s medical history, you may also have significant worries about genetic conditions running through your family. You may worry about your own health, too, as you contemplate news stories dealing with cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, for example. All these concerns revolve around genetics and the inheritance of a predisposition to a particular disease or the inheritance of the disorder itself.
Genetic counselors are specially and rigorously trained to help people learn about the genetic aspects of their family medical histories. This chapter explains the process of genetic counseling, ...
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