8/13/08

Spit Happens

Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel

(note: editor changed my above title to "Company touts value of spit",see link at the bottom. Which do you think is better?)

Yes, folks, that same translucent liquid produced in our mouth around the clock. Those glands secrete two to four pints of saliva into our kisser every day. We know it aids digestion as it is the first phase of food processing in our body, it is a pal of the tongue by wetting food for the taste buds to perform their task, it makes swallowing a lot easier (imagine trying to eat a pizza without there being saliva), your teeth are constantly bathed by it, and it helps battle mouth infections. Not to mention the component in sealing that birthday card envelope .

Most of the time we keep our watery enzymed friend to ourselves swallowing unconsciously. Baseball players, however, seem to be the exception. Drool on the pillow or on the baby’s chin is a reminder that the glands are working. In Beijing, if you expectorate expect to pay a fine of up to 50 yuan (about $6.50, the approximate wage of ½ day for the average worker) and in Shanghai it is 200 yuan; for not only do they want to seem more hospitable (no pun) but they are also fighting Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and want to indoctrinate citizens with more hygienic habits.

Why am I going down this slippery saliva slope? Well, with all the above listed good things about our ever present fluid I recently discovered another highly significant one. What if you were told that a heart attack was probable in your future? What if you learned you have a predisposition to Diabetes? Prostate Cancer? Alzheimer’s? Would you want to know about it so as to take steps to help yourself? Well, providing a sample of your saliva, and paying a fee (more about this later) will give you information to assess your health condition.

Genetic tests by Navigenics Inc. Of Redwood Shores, California makes this information available to individuals so that they can make informed decisions as to their own well being. It is a new era of personalized medical information that is being ushered in, and you will be hearing a lot more about it . There is no scheduled appointment and no waiting room wait. The test is called Health Compass and is available directly to the purchaser via the Internet.

They cover 21 conditions from abdominal aneurysm to rheumatoid arthritis with breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer among them. From the saliva DNA sample they scan your complete genome to give you a picture of your genetic makeup. They test for health conditions that you can do something about so the “condition can be prevented, detected early or treated. That means that while we show you your genetic risk, you can still affect your overall risk by taking action.” The team of Ph.D. Geneticists selects genetic risk markers that have been validated by multiple studies and have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

To ensure the quality and accuracy they use a government-certified laboratory that has rigorous federal regulations. “We subject the sample processing to repeated quality checks and stringent data verification procedures.” For privacy, the samples sent to the lab are identified only by a bar code. The lab tests for nearly 2 million genetic markers, including almost a million “single nucleotide polymorphisms. These are one-letter variations in your DNA that can serve as markers for disease risk.”

Navigenics then interpret and checks the results, they are posted to a secure Web site, where only the consumer can view them, usually in six to eight weeks. Then a designated Genetic Counselor will go through your report with you, They give you a toll-free number to ensure continuity for the same counselor. “Now that you have been given insight into your potential genetic risks, our goal is to empower you to take action.--We believe that the information we give you can help you work with your doctor to detect potential conditions early.”

Their service does not end with the initial scan and consultation. “For as long as you remain a member, you will get updates via e-mail about new health information as it becomes available and passes our screening process.” The fee for the first year of service is (nothing to spit at) $2500 and the ongoing subscription rate is $250 per year.

There are some medical professionals who are concerned with patients coming in and waving DNA profiles seeking preventive methods based on categorized risks. This may take the form of unnecessary tests and a patient learning about a slight increase in risk might experience uncalled for levels of anxiety. There are also questions as to a possible disruption of the doctor/patient relationship, privacy issues concerning insurers and employers using such information, and selling the genetic data to drug companies that require such statistics to perform genetically targeted medical studies, among others.

There you have another avenue open to either affirm your health condition or learn of risks of which you might have been unaware. But, hey, if you are content just being who you are and going along as you are forget all of the above---- and keep your mouth shut.

http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/08/13/columnists/doc48a1db79a8476619888427.txt