No Family History presents compelling evidence of environmental links to breast cancer, ranging from everyday cosmetics to industrial waste. Sabrina McCormick weaves the story of one survivor with no family history into a powerful exploration of the big business of breast cancer. As drugs, pink products, and corporate sponsorships generate enormous revenue to find a cure, a growing number of experts argue that we should instead increase focus on prevention—reducing environmental exposures that have contributed to the sharp increase of breast cancer rates. But the dollars continue to pour into the search for a cure, and the companies that profit, including some pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies, may in fact contribute to the environmental causes of breast cancer. No Family History shows how profits drive our public focus on the cure rather than prevention, and suggests new ways to reduce breast cancer rates in the future.
Winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, a lyrical meditation on family, place, and inheritance Names for Light traverses time and memory to weigh three generations of a family’s history against a painful inheritance of postcolonial violence and racism. In spare, lyric paragraphs framed by white space, Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint explores home, belonging, and identity by revisiting the cities in which her parents and grandparents lived. As she makes inquiries into their stories, she intertwines oral narratives with the official and mythic histories of Myanmar. But while her family’s stories move into the present, her own story—that of a writer seeking to understand who she is—moves into the past, until both converge at the end of the book. Born in Myanmar and raised in Bangkok and San Jose, Myint finds that she does not have typical memories of arriving in the United States; instead, she is haunted by what she cannot remember. By the silences lingering around what is spoken. By a chain of deaths in her family line, especially that of her older brother as a child. For Myint, absence is felt as strongly as presence. And, as she comes to understand, naming those absences, finding words for the unsaid, means discovering how those who have come before have shaped her life. Names for Light is a moving chronicle of the passage of time, of the long shadow of colonialism, and of a writer coming into her own as she reckons with her family’s legacy.
HELPS YOU DEVELOP AND ASSESS PEDIGREES TO MAKE DIAGNOSES, EVALUATE RISK, AND COUNSEL PATIENTS The Second Edition of The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History not only shows how to take a medical-family history and record a pedigree, but also explains why each bit of information gathered is important. It provides essential support in diagnosing conditions with a genetic component. Moreover, it aids in recommending genetic testing, referring patients for genetic counseling, determining patterns of inheritance, calculating risk of disease, making decisions for medical management and surveillance, and informing and educating patients. Based on the author's twenty-five years as a genetic counselor, the book also helps readers deal with the psychological, social, cultural, and ethical problems that arise in gathering a medical-family history and sharing findings with patients. Featuring a new Foreword by Arno Motulsky, widely recognized as the founder of medical genetics, and completely updated to reflect the most recent findings in genetic medicine, this Second Edition presents the latest information and methods for preparing and assessing a pedigree, including: Value and utility of a thorough medical-family history Directed questions to ask when developing a medical-family history for specific disease conditions Use of pedigrees to identify individuals with an increased susceptibility to cancer Verification of family medical information Special considerations when adoptions or gamete donors are involved Ethical issues that may arise in recording a pedigree Throughout the book, clinical examples based on hypothetical families illustrate key concepts, helping readers understand how real issues present themselves and how they can be resolved. This book will enable all healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, medical social workers, and physician assistants, as well as genetic counselors, to take full advantage of the pedigree as a primary tool for making a genetic risk assessment and providing counseling for patients and their families.
The Practical Guide to The Genetic Family History Robin L. Bennett Compiling the most recent genetic developments in medical specialties, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History is a valuable resource which outlines the proper methods for taking and recording a patient's family medical history, allowing primary care physicians to be more efficient in diagnosing conditions with potential genetic components. With genetic screening forms, an overview of directed questions, pedigree nomenclature, and outlining common approaches used, genetic counselor Robin L. Bennett provides readers with the basic foundation in human genetics necessary to recognize inherited disorders and familial disease susceptibility in patients. As the only guide which is geared for the physician in this field, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History includes remarks by renowned medical geneticist Arno Motulsky, as well as information on structuring an accurate pedigree and its components, including: * Using a pedigree to identify individuals with an increased susceptibility to cancer * Family history, adoption, and their challenges * The connection between the pedigree and assisted reproductive technologies * Making referrals for genetic services * Neurological and neuromuscular conditions * Tables covering hearing loss, mental retardation, dementia, and seizures * Five case studies of genetics in practice An essential reference for genetics clinics, medical geneticists, and counselors, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History is also an invaluable aid for both primary care and specialist physicians who need an up-to-date reference that emphasizes both the science and art of modern clinical genetics.
It has been recognized for almost 200 years that certain families seem to inherit cancer. It is only in the past decade, however, that molecular genetics and epidemiology have combined to define the role of inheritance in cancer more clearly, and to identify some of the genes involved. The causative genes can be tracked through cancer-prone families via genetic linkage and positional cloning. Several of the genes discovered have subsequently been proved to play critical roles in normal growth and development. There are also implications for the families themselves in terms of genetic testing with its attendant dilemmas, if it is not clear that useful action will result. The chapters in The Genetics of Cancer illustrate what has already been achieved and take a critical look at the future directions of this research and its potential clinical applications.
A Beginner's Guide to Finding Your Ancestors Have you always wanted to find out more about your family and where you came from, but never knew where to begin? Look no further - Family History 101 will teach you proven techniques to help you uncover the names, dates, and stories that lie in your past. You will be eased into family history with: Straightforward tips on tapping the power of the internet. Checklists, forms, case studies, and illustrations that make getting started fun and easy. Guidance on maximizing existing information, finding more, and what it all means. Tips and techniques for recording and sharing all the wonderful family data you will uncover. Newcomers to genealogy, schoolteachers, and anyone interested in uncovering the fascinating roots of their family tree will appreciate the reliable, step-by-step instruction and dependable approach to the basics provided by Family History 101. Start learning about the past and your family's place in it today!
Raising hopes for disease treatment and prevention, but also the specter of discrimination and "designer genes," genetic testing is potentially one of the most socially explosive developments of our time. This book presents a current assessment of this rapidly evolving field, offering principles for actions and research and recommendations on key issues in genetic testing and screening. Advantages of early genetic knowledge are balanced with issues associated with such knowledge: availability of treatment, privacy and discrimination, personal decision-making, public health objectives, cost, and more. Among the important issues covered: Quality control in genetic testing. Appropriate roles for public agencies, private health practitioners, and laboratories. Value-neutral education and counseling for persons considering testing. Use of test results in insurance, employment, and other settings.
This important book examines the motives that drive family historians and explores whether those who research their ancestral pedigrees have distinct personalities, demographics or family characteristics. It describes genealogists’ experiences as they chart their family trees including their insights, dilemmas and the fascinating, sometimes disturbing and often surprising, outcomes of their searches. Drawing on theory and research from psychology and other humanities disciplines, as well as from the authors’ extensive survey data collected from over 800 amateur genealogists, the authors present the experiences of family historians, including personal insights, relationship changes, mental health benefits and ethical dilemmas. The book emphasises the motivation behind this exploration, including the need to acknowledge and tell ancestral stories, the spiritual and health-related aspects of genealogical research, the addictiveness of the detective work, the lifelong learning opportunities and the passionate desire to find lost relatives. With its focus on the role of family history in shaping personal identity and contemporary culture, this is fascinating reading for anyone studying genealogy and family history, professional genealogists and those researching their own history.
“A fascinating exploration of the mysteries ignited by DNA genealogy testing—from the intensely personal and concrete to the existential and unsolvable.” —Tana French, New York Times–bestselling author You swab your cheek or spit in a vial, then send it away to a lab somewhere. Weeks later you get a report that might tell you where your ancestors came from or if you carry certain genetic risks. Or, the report could reveal a long-buried family secret that upends your entire sense of identity. Soon a lark becomes an obsession, a relentless drive to find answers to questions at the core of your being, like “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?” Welcome to the age of home genetic testing. In The Lost Family, journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. She explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story. Gripping and masterfully told, The Lost Family is a spectacular book on a big, timely subject. “An urgently necessary, powerful book that addresses one of the most complex social and bioethical issues of our time.” —Dani Shapiro, New York Times–bestselling author “Before you spit in that vial, read this book.” —The New York Times Book Review “Impeccably researched . . . up-to-the-minute science meets the philosophy of identity in a poignant, engaging debut.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
