Health and Wellness 1515Chapter

How Genes Affect Health

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter INTRODUCTION

• Babies inherit about 100,000 different genes from their parents

• The advances in diagnosing and detecting inherited disorders have generated complex economic, personal, social and ethical problems

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter CONGENITAL DEFECTS AND TERATOGENS

• Newborns with observable physical or biological abnormalities -Congenital defects

• Most congenital defects are due to a complex interaction of genes and environment

Health and Wellness

1155

ChapterEnvironmental agents during pregnancy

• prescription and illegal drugs

• viral and bacterial infections

• alcohol consumption during pregnancy

• smoking

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter Nutrition Prevents Defects

•Folic Acid(Folate)– Need to get adequate

during pregnancy– Beans, green leafy

veggies– Good for nerve

development

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter Environmental Factors/Healthy Birth• Alcohol- most common

problem and effect

• Drugs

• Smoking

• Caffeine

• Bacteria/virus

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter Hereditary Diseases• A hereditary (genetic) disease

results from a defective gene that is passed on to the child in the sperm, egg, or both

• As a result of the defective gene(s), a protein is either not produced or is abnormal, causing the problem

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter Examples of Hereditary Diseases

•Hemophilia - an enzyme called Factor III is defective

• Phenylketonuria (PKU) - a enzyme that is needed to digest amino acid, phenylalanine, is defective

• Sickle cell disease - defect in hemoglobin proteins in red blood cells

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter HUMAN HEREDITY: Genes• Genes are present in chromosomes in a

chemical substance called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

• Altogether the 46 human chromosomes have about 200,000 genes that uniquely determine a human being

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter PREVENTING GENETIC DISEASES:Prenatal Testing

• Genetic counseling allows a couple to be fully informed before, during and after a pregnancy with regards to genetic defects

• Amniocentesis

• Ultrasound scanning

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter PREVENTING GENETIC DISEASES:

• Very few hereditary diseases can be treated effectively

-- PKU is an exception

Gene therapy is a technique for replacing defective genes with normal ones in certain tissues of a person affected with a hereditary disease

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter

Genetic Testing• The human Genome

Project

• Genetic tests that predict disease risk– Breast cancer– Colon cancer– Alzheimers disease.

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter Genes=Traits

•1 gene=many traits

•Many genes=1trait

Health and Wellness

1155

Chapter Genetics Or Environment

• Many Traits/Diseases unknown %– Hypertension– Allergies– Depression– IQ– alcoholism