FED:`Strong demand' for genetic tests

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-2010
FED:`Strong demand' for genetic tests

Eds: Embargoed to 0100 AEDT, Thursday, December 16.

By Danny Rose, AAP Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Dec 16 AAP - An Australian study has revealed strong demand for genetic testing
despite expert concerns over its predictive accuracy and a lack of "genetic discrimination"

laws.

A clear majority of respondents to a University of NSW survey said they would support
such testing in a case where a doctor offered it to check for a person's future risk of
depression.

Forty per cent also said they were comfortable with the tests being sold, as they are
now, in a largely unregulated way over the internet.

Dr Alex Wilde, from the UNSW's School of Psychiatry, said she was surprised by the
level of community support for the tests which backers claim can reveal a person's future
risk of a range of illnesses and disease.

"The findings are surprising given that we also found widespread belief that genetic
links to mental illness would increase rather than decrease stigma," Dr Wilde said.

"And also because the validity and utility of the testing is still in question ...

There is no certainty depression will manifest in someone with a higher-than-average risk
whether they are exposed to stressful life events or not."

On top of this uncertainty, Dr Wilde said, Australia lacked the "genetic non-discrimination
laws" needed to protect a person should their test results become known to a third party.

An employer, for example, could base a hire or fire decision on a person's genetic
test results with little recourse.

A worrying longer-term health forecast, based solely on an assessment of a person's
genetic code, could also affect the availability or cost of health insurance.

Despite this, Dr Wilde's nation-wide poll of 1000 Australians found those with a history
of depression, or who suspected they were at higher risk, were most likely to be test
supporters.

Popular reasons to have a test included that it may prevent a future mental ill-health
episode or prompt earlier intervention.

There was greater interest in seeking genetic tests for depression through a doctor
(63 per cent), but also strong support for obtaining one over the internet (40 per cent).

"The topic of genetic testing for common disorders has been subject to continuing interest
all over the world since the rise, fall, and rise again of the unregulated direct-to-consumer
genetic testing market," Dr Wilde said.

"Considering direct-to-consumer genetic tests are marketed internationally, consumers
may have no legal protection from genetic discrimination for insurance or employment in
their own country."

Dr Wilde said the poll showed there was "strong demand" for such genetic testing and
so legislation was needed to ensure a person was protected and to "prevent genetic discrimination".

"The results reflect a prevailing belief that the benefits of knowing one's own genetic
susceptibility outweigh the risks," she said.

The study is published this week in the advance online edition of the UK-based journal
Psychological Medicine.

AAP dr/msk/nb

KEYWORD: GENETIC EMBARGOED

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