Medslant Acid Reflux Newsletter

Acid Reflux - Maybe It's In your Genes

Like me, I am sure many of you are receiving emails inviting you to have your DNA analyzed. Just as ads and emails invite us to have a complete body scan, DNA testing appears to be the new buzz in assessing our medical being.

An article in the August 10, 2006, The New England Journal of Medicine cautions that we should be alert to risks as well as benefits of genetic testing. Authored by Patricia A. Roche, J.D., and George J. Annas, J.D., M.P.H., both professors in the Department of Health Law, Bioethics, and Human Rights at Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, warns us to "be wary of perceptions of ourselves - whether our own or others' - that are based on results of tests that have not been validated or on misinterpretations of valid tests."

Wanting to know our identity has long been a thought provoking question; the advent of DNA testing carries the impression for some that the answer is in our genes. We are offered knowledge of our history, disease genes, lifestyle changes, and profiles that can recommend predispositions toward certain behaviors.

Sidestepping the doctor-patient relationship and thus eliminating face-to-face genetic counseling can be risky the authors caution. DNA donors cannot assume that the privacy they take for granted in medical care applies. The best advice the authors give is that "one should not send a DNA sample to anyone who does not guarantee to destroy it on completion of the specified test". They further warn that we can't simply get a new DNA and that although we will not learn who we are by having our DNA analyzed we will almost certainly give others the opportunity to learn about us.

There continues to be much written about the relationship between GERD and bad sleep. The latest report from Jefferson University Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, observed a group of people with sleep problems who had not previously been diagnosed with GERD. After being treated with reflux meds, poor sleepers who had not reported reflux symptoms, improved. The conclusion: before taking sleeping pills, one should be evaluated for GERD.

Thanks to all of you who expressed interest in our new, canvas travel bag. We are starting production and I will let you know as soon as it is ready. The cost of the bag which is a 600 denier, water resistant, backed nylon is $28 including shipping. We'll give you, our preferred customers, a 10% discount on your travel bag.

Please keep the phone calls and emails coming to 1.800.346.1850 or customerservice@medslant.com. I love hearing from you.



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