Page 8
August 17, 2011
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Concerns
(AP) — Boy or girl? A sim ple blood test in m others-to-be
can answ er that question with surprising accuracy at about
seven w eeks, a research analysis has found.
Though not widely offered by doctors, gender-detecting
blood tests have been sold online to consum ers for the past
few years. Their promi ses o f early and accurate results prompted
genetics researchers to take a closer look.
The authors o f the study say the results suggest the blood
tests could be a breakthrough for w om en at risk o f having
babies with certain diseases, w ho could avoid invasive proce­
dures if they learned their fetus was a gender not affected by
those illnesses. But the study raises concerns about couples
using such tests for gender selection and abortion.
Couples w ho buy tests from m arketers should be ques­
tioned about how they plan to use the results, the study’s
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authors said.
The analyzed test can detect fetal D N A in m others' blood.
It's about 95 percent accurate at identifying gender when
w om en are at least seven w eeks' pregnant — more than one
m onth before conventional m ethods. A ccuracy o f the testing
increases as pregnancy advances, the researchers concluded.
C onventional procedures, typically done for m edical rea­
sons, can detect gender starting at about 10 weeks.
The new analysis, published in the Journal o f the Am erican
M edical A ssociation, involved m ore than 6,000 pregnancies.
The testing used a lab procedure called PCR that detects
genetic m aterial — in this case, the m ale Y chrom osom e. If
present in the m other's blood, she's carrying a boy, but if
absent, it's a girl.
Tests that com panies sell directly to consum ers were not
exam ined in the analysis. Sex-detection tests using mothers'
urine or blood before seven weeks o f pregnancy were not
accurate, the researchers said.
'Amazing' Therapy Wipes Out Leukemia
(A P) — Scientists are reporting
the first clear success with a new
approach for treating leukem ia —
turning the patients' ow n blood cells
into assassins that hunt and d e ­
stroy their can cer cells.
T hey've only done it in three
patients so far, but the results w ere
striking: T w o ap p ear cancer-free up
to a year after treatm ent, and the
third patient is im proved but still
has som e cancer. Scientists are al-
ready preparing to try the sam e gene
therapy technique for other kinds o f
cancer.
loin the
African American Health Coalition, Inc.
and
Grand Marshall Baruti L. A rth a re e ^
for the
T he study, lead by Dr. C arl June
at the U niversity o f P ennsylvania,
involved three m en w ith very ad ­
vanced cases o f chronic ly m p h o ­
cytic leukem ia, o r C LL . T he only
hope for a cure now is bone m arrow
or stem cell transplants, w hich don't
alw ays w ork and carry a high risk o f
death.
June and his co lleagues m ade
changes to earlier cancer-fighting
techniques using a novel carrier to
deliver the new genes into the T-
cells and a signaling m echanism
telling the cells to kill cancer cells
and m ultiply.
Dates Set for Free
Health Screenings
T h e O r e g o n L io n s M o b ile lack prim ary care are unaw are they
H e alth S c re e n in g p ro g ram w ill h a v e h e a l t h c o n d i t i o n s th a t
p ro v id e free h ealth sc re e n in g s to th re a te n th e ir sig h t, jo b s , q u a lity
the p u b lic in the fo llo w in g areas: o f life an d p o te n tia lly th e ir lives.
v isu al a cu ity , h e arin g , b lo o d p re s ­
T w o o f the c lu b ’s upcom ing free
su re , d ia b e te s (w ith a 3 h o u r fast) health screenings w ill take place on
an d g la u co m a.
Aug. 20, from 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the
W o rk in g w ith th e O re g o n L i­ A sian C om m unity H ealth Fair on
o n s S ig h t an d H earin g F o u n d a ­ 3430S.E . Powell B lvd.; and on Aug.
tio n , th e L io n s C lu b striv e s to 27, from 10:30 a.m . - 5 p.m . at the
c o m b a t p re v e n ta tiv e b lin d n e s s Proper Festival at K enton Park at
an d d e a fn e ss in the c o m m u n ity 8417 N. B randon Ave.
th ro u g h free h e a lth sc re e n in g s.
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , v is it
M any co m m u n ity m em bers w ho o ls h f.o rg .
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in fe c tio n th a t c an c a u se m e n in g i-
tis an d tak e an o th e rw is e h e a lth y
c h ild ’s life in ju s t a sin g le day.
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h ig h e r a m o n g te e n a g e r s a n d
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m e d ic al p ro b le m s
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th e ir p re te e n s an d te en s a g a in st
m e n in g o c o c c a l d is e a s e by g e ttin g
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tu rn to sch o o l.
M o re in fo rm a tio n can b e fo u n d
at V o ic e s O fM e n in g itis .o rg .
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