Archive for the ‘Mitochondrial Conditions’ Category
What is AccessDNA?
What is AccessDNA?
We are often asked why we founded AccessDNA and how we hope to help people. As a genetic counselor, I often get calls and emails from people located around the country looking for information about their genetic disease or that of a loved one. They may find my name in a directory at the National Society of Genetic Counselors website or they may find our website by doing a Google search and send me an email. But, either way, they usually reach out because they are having a hard time finding any relevant information about their genetic disease or finding a genetic counselor in their local area since there are so few of us practicing in the United States.
We believe access to credible information and genetic services is critical for individuals and their loved ones when faced with a genetic condition. Access to genetic counseling is especially important because genetic counselors have specialized training in assessing an individual’s risk to develop or pass on a disease or abnormality. We are also trained in the medical aspects of the disease, such as symptoms and characteristics, disease management and treatment, as well as the psychological implications of disease on an individual or family.
AccessDNA was founded to help people get guidance and support in this emerging and promising area of medicine. In an era where our knowledge of the genetics of both rare and common diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, is rapidly advancing, and tests are being developed daily, everyone can use a little help understanding what this means for themselves and their family.
Charles Darwin Posthumously Diagnosed with Genetic Vomiting Disorder
Throughout Darwin’s adult life, the author of “The Origin of Species” was affected with a chronic illness characterized by episodes of nausea and vomiting, stomach and skin problems, and lethargy often associated with headache, visual disturbances, and heart palpitations.
Darwin’s medical symptoms have long been a mystery to historians. While some believed Darwin to be a hypochondriac, others have suggested toxic poisoning as the root of his ailments. Now an associate professor at Monash Univerity in Melbourne, John Hayman, suggests in the December issue of the British Medical Journal, that Darwin, the man made famous for “survival of the fittest,” was himself affected with a genetic disorder called cyclic vomiting syndrome.
