Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : December 7, 2014 5:10 PM IST
New York, December 7: Angelina Jolie had earlier undergone a preventive double mastectomy after her doctors identified her genetic risk of contracting breast cancer due to the BRCA gene mutation. However, she isn t the only one to brave a preventive surgery. A study revealed that people in general are today using genetic risk information to make significant medical decisions.
According to social scientists this public behaviour is of concern. With too much focus on risk factors for diseases, we are living in an era of surveillance medicine, in which the emphasis on risk blurs the lines between health and illness, the researchers said.
Why is it a matter of worry?
Social scientists have argued that we are now treating risk as if it were a disease, and these results provide strong evidence for that claim, said Rene Almeling, assistant professor of sociology at the Yale University in the US. As the level of risk increases from 20 percent to 80 percent, people are more likely to want to take action of all kinds, including seeking information about the disease, managing risk by taking medication or undergoing surgery and organising finances, the findings established. (Read: Could an Angelina Jolie-like double mastectomy save women from breast cancer?)
What did the study conclude?
For the study, the researchers conducted a nationwide survey of American adults to determine if healthy people react to hypothetical genetic risk information by wanting to take action. Participants were asked if they have a family member or close friend with the disease. The researchers were startled to find that viewing a disease up close did not make much difference -- across the board, however, people responded to the hypothetical risk information by wanting to take action. Studies like this can aid health care providers in offering genetic information with sufficient context to insure that people make the best decisions for themselves, Almeling added.
The study appeared in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Image source: Getty Images
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