Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

How your genetic makeup impacts your health

Your genetics might mean your jar is already half-full

Erica Ramos: “Genetic counselors help people work through the decision-making process.”
Erica Ramos: “Genetic counselors help people work through the decision-making process.”

November 8 is Genetic Counselor Awareness Day. National Society of Genetic Counselors president Erica Ramos lives and works here in San Diego, and wants you to know that “your genes and your predispositions to disease have the ability to impact your health care quite a bit. A lot of conditions are driven by your genetic makeup, things like hereditary breast cancer or Huntington’s disease.” In the case of the latter, a neurological disorder which is incurable and almost always manifests, “you might want to make different life choices. Maybe get a job that allows you to be with your family more.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

At the moment, pregnancy is the most common reason people see genetic counselors, because pregnancy is the most common reason people get genetic tests. “We do testing to help identify different genetic conditions that may be present, which may help to inform decision making for a particular woman. Sometimes, that means pregnancy termination, but what we’ve found is that a lot of the time — particularly where there aren’t incredibly severe, end-of-life type things — people just want the information. They want to be ready.” Genetic counselors help address “the discrepancy between what people are expecting and what’s happening. It’s getting people to adjust from where their lives were to where they’re going. How do you make tough decisions?”

Ramos is a fan of information; she’d prefer it if parents knew the results of their own screenings before conceiving. “If you’re a carrier for a recessive genetic disorder like sickle cell disease, usually, you have to have a child with someone else who is a carrier in order to pass it on.” A counselor can discuss options: adoption, egg and sperm donors, even pre-implantation testing of in vitro embryos. “There are a lot of different paths forward. OBs and GYNs and genetics groups recommend we offer carrier testing in advance. We want to make sure people are as comfortable as possible with the information they have.”

As a fan of information, Ramos is glad to see the success of direct-to-consumer services like 23andMe. But while much genetic counseling centers around dealing with the results of genetic testing, she also stresses its value “in looking at people’s family histories, and the role that plays in their particular condition. Jehannine Austin up at the University of British Columbia does a lot of work in the area of bipolar, schizophrenia, addiction, things along those lines. Many of these are probably to some degree hereditary. The way she describes it is: say you have a jar and when that jar gets full of marbles, you trigger certain symptoms. Your genetics might mean your jar is already half-full. If you drink alcohol, that might add marbles. If you meditate, that might take some marbles out. The easy thing is for people to blame themselves: ‘If I hadn’t done drugs when I was a teenager…’ She’s seen positive outcomes for patients who can say, ‘I didn’t cause this condition for myself, but moving forward, I can have more agency over my life.’”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Erica Ramos: “Genetic counselors help people work through the decision-making process.”
Erica Ramos: “Genetic counselors help people work through the decision-making process.”

November 8 is Genetic Counselor Awareness Day. National Society of Genetic Counselors president Erica Ramos lives and works here in San Diego, and wants you to know that “your genes and your predispositions to disease have the ability to impact your health care quite a bit. A lot of conditions are driven by your genetic makeup, things like hereditary breast cancer or Huntington’s disease.” In the case of the latter, a neurological disorder which is incurable and almost always manifests, “you might want to make different life choices. Maybe get a job that allows you to be with your family more.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

At the moment, pregnancy is the most common reason people see genetic counselors, because pregnancy is the most common reason people get genetic tests. “We do testing to help identify different genetic conditions that may be present, which may help to inform decision making for a particular woman. Sometimes, that means pregnancy termination, but what we’ve found is that a lot of the time — particularly where there aren’t incredibly severe, end-of-life type things — people just want the information. They want to be ready.” Genetic counselors help address “the discrepancy between what people are expecting and what’s happening. It’s getting people to adjust from where their lives were to where they’re going. How do you make tough decisions?”

Ramos is a fan of information; she’d prefer it if parents knew the results of their own screenings before conceiving. “If you’re a carrier for a recessive genetic disorder like sickle cell disease, usually, you have to have a child with someone else who is a carrier in order to pass it on.” A counselor can discuss options: adoption, egg and sperm donors, even pre-implantation testing of in vitro embryos. “There are a lot of different paths forward. OBs and GYNs and genetics groups recommend we offer carrier testing in advance. We want to make sure people are as comfortable as possible with the information they have.”

As a fan of information, Ramos is glad to see the success of direct-to-consumer services like 23andMe. But while much genetic counseling centers around dealing with the results of genetic testing, she also stresses its value “in looking at people’s family histories, and the role that plays in their particular condition. Jehannine Austin up at the University of British Columbia does a lot of work in the area of bipolar, schizophrenia, addiction, things along those lines. Many of these are probably to some degree hereditary. The way she describes it is: say you have a jar and when that jar gets full of marbles, you trigger certain symptoms. Your genetics might mean your jar is already half-full. If you drink alcohol, that might add marbles. If you meditate, that might take some marbles out. The easy thing is for people to blame themselves: ‘If I hadn’t done drugs when I was a teenager…’ She’s seen positive outcomes for patients who can say, ‘I didn’t cause this condition for myself, but moving forward, I can have more agency over my life.’”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.