GeneTestNow.com Initiative
I was a reporter and editor for the Jewish weekly newspaper the Jewish Exponent in the early 1970s when the first screenings for the Jewish genetic disease Tay Sachs were offered. My husband and I joined others in being tested, and the Exponent carried numerous stories of the fatal prognosis of a Tay Sachs child.
In the years since then many, many more genetic diseases can be screened for, and it is important that prospective parents undergo these tests. (I wrote about genetic screening including for the condition of Fragile X Syndrome — not a specifically Jewish genetic disease — in my previous blog post “Genetic Screening During Pregnancy.”)
Now during Rosh Hashanah synagogue services for the Jewish new year a friend handed me the September 30th issue of the Los Angeles weekly newspaper the Jewish Journal. The issue included a full-page ad about GeneTestNow.com with the headline “A Message From Your Local Rabbis About the Importance of Gene Testing in Our Community”
The GeneTestNow.com ad begins:
As rabbis, we are concerned about the complete health of our communities — spiritual as well as physical. So we are heartened that more and more people are learning about the importance of gene testing.
Since GeneTestNow.com — a free, locally based nonprofit founded by concerned members of our community — was launched four years ago, there have been significant strides in this grassroots effort to spread awareness and education about gene testing.
Later in the GeneTestNow.com ad is this important sentence:
For couples with any degree of Jewish ancestry, screening for the portion of the 40 potential conditions specific to your Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Persian, or North African Jewish heritage is imperative.
I would hope that this initiative is being implemented in Jewish communities throughout the world as well as encouraging screening for non-Jews for other genetic diseases.
At the moment I’m figuring out how to include GeneTestNow.com as part of the story in the Rebecca Stone cozy mystery SINK LIKE A STONE that I’m currently writing. Even fiction is an avenue for getting out the word about important medical concerns.
In this Jewish new year of 5777 I wish everyone a year of good health and success. GeneTestNow.com is an important platform for achieving that good health.
© 2016 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks. Phyllis is available by skype for book group discussions and may be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com
Her Kindle fiction ebooks may be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription — see www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller — and her Kindle nonfiction ebooks may also be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription — see www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller