Eye on DNA Podcast Interview: Huntington’s Disease
by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted October 16, 2007 in DNA Podcasts and Videos, Personalities with DNA
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Kathy Flake of What Do I Know? about her family history of Huntington’s disease (HD) and her personal experience with genetic testing. After talking to her, there is no doubt that Kathy certainly knows a lot!
Click play to listen to the interview which is about 25 minutes.
Notes:
00:30 Why genetic testing for HD is different than genetic testing for other complex diseases like breast cancer.
1:10 Kathy’s own experience with genetic testing for HD
5:15 Kathy’s receives the results of her genetic test for HD
6:48 Kathy talks about her aunt, her mother’s baby sister, who was diagnosed with HD in September 2007
9:11 We talk about preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)
12:32 We talk about Katherine Moser who tested positive for the HD genetic mutation and was featured in the New York Times. (Kathy Flake’s post on Katherine Moser.)
14:15 How HD affected Kathy’s lifestyle choice to become a vegetarian then vegan.
16:19 Would Kathy consider undergoing other genetic tests?
18:03 Kathy gives some advice for people preparing for a major genetic test.
19:50 We chat about access to genetic testing and the confusion over what to do with genetic information.
Please let me know what you think of this first Eye on DNA Podcast Interview!
Tags: genetics, genes, dna, interview, kathy flake, podcast, science, health, medicine, huntington’s disease
Related Posts:
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD): A Discussion...
10 Reasons NOT To Take a DNA Test...
Eye on DNA Headlines for 23 October 2007...
DNA Podcast: Futures in Biotech Interview with Dr. Richard Lifton...
American Journal of Medical Genetics Special Issue on Children and Genetics...
DNA Podcast: Genentech’s Joe McCracken...
DNA Podcast: Ancient DNA from the Neanderthal Genome...
6 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Search Eye on DNA
- Genetic Genealogy on Faces of America
- DNA Network Tweet Cloud
- DNA{wesome}
- Genetics = Real Science
- Larry David’s DNA Test
- Lopez Tonight First Late-Night Show to Offer DNA Testing
- American Genes Don’t Exist
- Knowledge about Genetic Risk is Power or is it Fear?
- Murderer Gets Reduced Sentence Because His Genes Made Him Do It
- Video: Knome’s Ari Kiirikki Speaks with Medgadget
MOST POPULAR
- DNA Toys: Ben 10 and Digimon Digivice
- 100 Facts About DNA
- Salaries for Jobs in Genetics
- What does DNA mean to you?
- Eye on DNA Interview: Dr. Tzung-Fu Hsieh of RedTracer DNA Test for the Red Hair Gene, MC1R
- Books About DNA: The Crime of Reason by Robert B. Laughlin
- Genetically Modified Organisms Bring in the Cash
- Navigenics Introduces Physician Portal and Annual Insight Service
- Parenting Children Using Genetic Tests
- American Clinical Laboratory Association Tips for Consumers of Genetic Tests
- People Who’ve Had Their Genomes Sequenced
09/29/2009 07:03 am
8 Comments - Larry David’s DNA Test
11/17/2009 02:52 am
1 Comment - 23andMe DNA Tests for $399, Down From $999
09/10/2008 04:33 am
6 Comments - Crazy Genetic Marketing Ideas
07/05/2008 09:14 pm
7 Comments - Parenting Children Using Genetic Tests
05/18/2009 02:09 am
4 Comments - Business of DNA
- DNA @ Google Answers
- DNA and Disease
- DNA and Genealogy
- DNA and the Law
- DNA Around the World
- DNA Fun
- DNA in General
- DNA Inventions and Gadgets
- DNA Lab Talk
- DNA Podcasts and Videos
- DNA Quotes and Excerpts
- DNA Testing
- Gene Therapy
- Genetic Engineering
- Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms
- Jobs Involving DNA
- Personalities with DNA
- Polls About DNA
RECENT POSTS
RECENT COMMENTS
CATEGORIES
ARCHIVE
- January 2010
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
RANDOMIZED BLOGROLL
- inkycircus
- Twisted Bacteria
- HealthNex
- Epidemix
- Behavioral Ecology Blog
- Scared to Health
- Dr. Deborah Serani
- Enoch Choi at MedHelp
- Gene Sherpa
- The Science Creative Quarterly
| We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. |
Thank you for that very thought-provoking podcast. I can understand why Kathy wanted to know if she had Huntington’s Disease or not and I can only imagine her immense relief to find out she tested negative for it.
My concern with genetic testing is if insurance companies find out the results. The repercussions could mean that people would be unable to get health insurance or be charged exhorbitant fees.
I also wonder if there is a case for not knowing because it would be so traumatic to find out you are definitely going to develop a disease. It could be argued that ignorance is bliss.
Ultimately, I think it should be a personal choice.
Hi Maureen! Great to hear from you. There are laws in the US and UK that aim to protect people from genetic discrimination. I expect that these laws will come into effect no later than 2-3 years from now.
As for ignorance is bliss, I can definitely identify with that. It’s a personal choice that needs to be supported by a lot of knowledge and guidance. Unfortunately there aren’t enough genetic counselors to go around! Hopefully that will change soon.
It’s good to know about the laws. I hope they do go into effect soon because I’m sure insurance companies would be very eager to get this data and use if for their benefit.
I can see that there will be an increasing demand for more genetic counselors. I hadn’t even thought about that aspect. Thanks for pointing it out.
[...] Medicine Blog hosts Grand Rounds Vol 4, No 5. My podcast interview with Kathy Flake about genetic testing for Huntington’s disease was one of only 15 that were included which “best reflected the variety of ways prognosis [...]
[...] genetic testing for Huntington disease (HD) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) (See Eye on DNA interview of Kathy Flake whose mother had [...]
[...] accept the results of a genetic test that does not confirm your pre-existing beliefs. For example, a person with a family history of Huntington’s disease may be shocked to find that they do not carry the HD gene [...]