Your Genes, Your Health: A Critical Family Guide that Could Save Your Life

From Tay-Sachs to hypertension, "[e]very aspect of health and all disease is controlled, regulated, modulated, or influenced by your genes, ....[but] the results of their dysfunction can frequently be remedied." A professor and doctor of pediatrics, genetics, and internal medicine, Milunsky (Genetic Disorders and the Fetus: Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment) provides a thorough manual invaluable to the layperson trying to determine if a condition is inheritable and how to prevent its passing to future generations. In language that clearly and concisely communicates details of medical treatments and genetics, the reader is instructed in the biology of genetic traits, how mutations are diagnosed, and how to assemble a family health history. From there, Milunsky moves on to a complete catalog of genetic disorders, including those caused by missing chromosomes, mutations of a particular gene, and those that increase cancer risk. Readers will appreciate anecdotes from his years of clinical practice that illustrate the impact of genetic diseases on individuals, families, and society. (Oct.)