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before making their decisions. For decades, women have been bombarded with information in the press and celebrity news. More recently commercial gene testing companies are advertising their services widely, but they offer no counselling. Unlike the gene for Huntington’ s Disease, genetic testing for any type of cancer offers risk factors which may be different for different individuals. Parsing a“ positive” test is not a simple thing. For optimum benefit, such results should be carefully evaluated.
In chapter 5,“ ADHD, Depression and Neurodiversity,” there is some overlap with the discussion of autism in chapter 3, in particular the exploding number of cases of ADHD and also the lack of scientific markers. There is commentary on the DSM( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria which offers labels rather than true diagnoses. Dr. O’ Sullivan has strong opinions on the“ overmedication” of children with ADHD while still acknowledging the real benefits of medication in those whose daily lives are totally disordered and unproductive. She has considerable professional experience in periodic review and how to successfully wean patients off medication. As with autistic individuals, she recognizes the benefits of special accommodations in the workplace and schools in order to promote self-sufficiency and goal achievement.
Chapter 6 is a broad discussion of the genetic screening of healthy newborns. Studies from Australia and the UK 100,000 Genome Project are cited. The clinical usefulness of such studies is as yet unknown. Two families are described whose infants have very rare( and different) genetic disorders, for which no treatment is available. The parents and pediatricians have come to terms with their“ slow developers.” The genetic information is no help to them, but they don’ t see it as a hindrance either.
This book is difficult to summarize. Each chapter contains useful information which appears to be well sourced. However, I think a better subtitle * would have been,“ How medical labels can help or hurt us or simply be of no use whatsoever.”
Dr. Amin is a retired diagnostic radiologist.
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