COVER STORY HEALTHCARE ADVANCEMENT The future is now Genetic testing, AI, and “personalized” healthcare W by caitlin m c cormack cause of lower back pain. With this knowledge, providers can encourage patients to take proactive steps to change lifestyle habits earlier to help min-imize any effects. Smith stresses that it’s important consumers and health care providers understand the different types of genetic testing available. Recreational genetic sonalized healthcare. testing, or direct to consumer (DTC) testing, gives However, with genetics there’s often more than information about health risk, ancestry, and other meets the eye – direct to consumer testing kits traits, and are entertaining, inexpensive options. aren’t necessarily as reliable as many people might Smith does not recommend using those tests to think, and they don’t always give a complete pic-make healthcare decisions, however. ture. “Often they only look at a very small subset of Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) – especially risk, and they don’t really look at the entire gene or machine learning – has the potential to revolution-set of genes that could cause disease. There could ize health care diagnosis and decision-making, but be misleading information, false positive informa-just how far away are patients and health care tion, or false negative information.” providers from handing over the reins to machines? MILLION In fact, a study by Ambry Genetics, published in The number of Genetics in Medicine , revealed DTC genetic tests In the genes consumers who were accompanied by a 40 percent false-positive “In the last five to 10 years we’ve seen genetic test-have added their rate, incorrectly indicating a disease is present. This ing increase substantially, and in every space. It DNA to four is why it’s so important to work with a health care used to just be within a genetic counselling or ge-leading provider educated on the tests to help decipher the neticist office that we were doing and seeing genetic commerical results. testing,” says Laura Smith, Vice President of Com-ancestry and Smith recommends people do clinical grade mercial Operations at Ambry Genetics. “Over the health databases testing from a laboratory that has CLIA certifica-last decade we’ve seen surgeons and oncologists at the start of tion and CAP accreditation, and that looks at a and cardiologists, even OB-GYNs, and all sorts of 2019, according specific disease subset. This way they can get a physician practices offering genetic testing.” to MIT definitive diagnosis one way or another. In the chiropractic setting, genetic testing can Technology “Genetic testing is not so black and white, un-identify a gene linked to age-related degeneration Review. fortunately,” she says. “There’s times where we find of the intervertebral discs in the spine – a common variants of unknown significance that don’t require action, but are findings that might require action CAITLIN MCCORMACK IS a Toronto-based freelance writer, in the future. specializing in health & wellness and technology content. You can Despite current limitations, Smith expects to see see more of her work at Caitlin Writes (caitlinwrites.ca). continued growth in direct to consumer testing, ith the advent of at-home genetic testing kits and more research discussing genetic underpinnings for a variety of disorders and diseases, it appears we’re entering the era of per-26 12 Canadian Chiropractor December 2019 www.canadianchiropractor.ca Photo: Adobe Stock
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