Genetic counseling throughout the life cycle.
As the definition of genetic counseling continues to evolve, so does the application of genetic counseling services in all areas of medicine and throughout the human life cycle. While governmental policy, economics, ethics, and religion continue to influence society's views regarding the necessity of testing germ cells for mutations to prevent the birth of an affected child or predicting whether healthy adults will develop future life-threatening illness, patient autonomy in the choice of whether to know, or not know, one's genetic make-up remains a core principle of genetic counseling.
University of Washington, Medical Genetics, Box 357720, Seattle, Washington 98195-7720, USA. robinb@u.washington.edu
Leslie J
LJ
Ciarleglio
Robin L
RL
Bennett
Jennifer
J
Williamson
Jessica B
JB
Mandell
Joan H
JH
Marks
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis