Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 02-11-2019, 07:58 AM
 
Location: The Driftless Area, WI
7,140 posts, read 4,982,061 times
Reputation: 17490

Advertisements

I saw this piece on NBC's Today show https://www.today.com/video/video/gr...-1440579651923 about a pitcher for the Houston Astros whose family history is positive for Huntington's Disease.


The first thing I thought after seeing it was Ted Williams was right-- pitchers are the dumbest people in the world.


The situation- his family has several members with HD, therefore, he could have the gene and be susceptible to developing the symptoms & problems as he ages.


He doesn't want to do genetic testing now, because he claims others who have done it and find that they're positive go thru a period of depression.


He wants to have kids, so he runs the risk of passing the gene on.


He has decided with his wife that they will go to the expensive process of in vivo fertilization with selection of which egg to use based on genetic testing of the fertilized eggs. His wife would be submitted to laparoscopic surgery to collect eggs.


Won't he find out if he's got the gene that way, anyway?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-11-2019, 08:24 AM
 
14,213 posts, read 11,492,242 times
Reputation: 38789
Quote:
Originally Posted by guidoLaMoto View Post
He has decided with his wife that they will go to the expensive process of in vivo fertilization with selection of which egg to use based on genetic testing of the fertilized eggs. His wife would be submitted to laparoscopic surgery to collect eggs.

Won't he find out if he's got the gene that way, anyway?
Not necessarily. They could request that only "healthy embryos" be implanted, but choose not to be told if any of them actually had the gene.

I know someone who has the Huntington's gene and her mother has already developed the disease. She did in vitro and and has a baby girl who doesn't have the gene. In vitro is a reasonable option with this particular very horrible genetic disease.

I might or might not want to know, either. It's hard to say. I have genetic mutations that predispose me to cancer, but cancer is something you can be proactive about for the most part, so there's a good reason to know. I can understand the attitude that if I'm going to get something that has no prevention and no cure, why ruin the good years I have left by stressing out, knowing it's coming.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-11-2019, 10:46 AM
 
Location: The Driftless Area, WI
7,140 posts, read 4,982,061 times
Reputation: 17490
Options: don't do test and live with anxiety, or need to suppress anxiety or deny the problem like a child over the next 40 yrs vs do test and be relieved completely of the problem if negative or to deal with the problem financially/socially/economically like an adult if it's positive. Don't forget there's a wife and soon children that have to deal with the psychological stress involved...It's not like there's only a small chance he has it-- it's more like 50:50.


If it's negative, normal conception is free. If it's positive, then you can spend the $35,000 per pregnancy for selective in vitro....


....I figure at his pay scale, he needs to pitch ~ one stinking inning to pay for it. He can afford to be stupid & insensitive. I guess he thinks it's worse to have short term depression than full time anxiety.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-11-2019, 11:52 AM
 
Location: South Florida
924 posts, read 1,666,485 times
Reputation: 3311
His reproductive choices make sense to me; what I really don't understand him going public with them. Revealing that he has a 50/50 chance of developing Huntington's seems like a good way to curtail his athletic career. He may actually have forced himself into finding out earlier than he wanted to, on a personal level, in order to prove to those who may be wondering and want to sign/renew a contract with him at the professional level.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top