Parents Have Science on Their Side

Whether parenting is an art or a science is up to every parent to decide. However, when managing family health, parents are wearing the science hat more and more. The good news is that parents have science on their side. Precision medicine solutions are advancing diagnosis and clinical care into the next age of health, empowering parents to confidently embrace proactive approaches to help their children live healthier lives. The science behind precision medicine is easily translatable and more approachable than ever for parents.

If we look at child conception and infant care, as an example, we see modernization of powerful science available to parents. Don’t worry, we’re not putting on our lab coats or grabbing our microscopes. Let’s talk about opportunities for parents to learn and have an open dialogue with their physicians and care professionals. Precision medicine diagnosis solutions give parents all of the information available to ensure the most comprehensive care for their child.

Our bodies know what we need. We need to know how to ask.

Our bodies are amazing. Science and medicine have only begun to understand the complex science that explains how we work, and at times, why we don’t work. It’s in our understanding of what makes us unique where today’s healthcare mysteries will turn into tomorrow’s solutions. Parents should take solace in the fact that solutions exist that are advancing with every scientific discovery. Your health, your child’s health, your family’s health, it’s all more understandable through proactive precision medicine.

Precision Medicine is the modern technology answer to how we feel and function as individuals. Its foundation is the genetic and microbiome science and understanding of human development and functionality. By understanding how we have developed, and how we are functioning, we can find the issue that is having a unique effect on us. Gone are the days of falling within a broad list of symptoms, hoping to solve one problem in exchange for another. We want an answer to our individual needs. When it comes to expecting parents, and parents with a new little one at home, we want to understand our child’s unique health and care needs.

Precision medicine offers many solutions empowering parents to have science on their side. Let’s highlight a few that are very common and impacting in a child’s conception and development.

Learn how your nutrition absorption may be affecting your baby

Expecting mothers are very busy with a number of things preparing for the arrival of their little one. One important aspect of pregnancy for moms is their nutrition, and the effect it may be having on their little one. There are no shortage of diet recommendations and approaches moms can take when “eating for two.” However, do they have a solution to reduce the anxiety of not knowing mom’s nutritional impact on her baby? Can mom get an accurate assessment of her nutritional impact on her baby? Yes, families do have solutions to give them a nutrition evaluation.

Prenatal genetic nutrition testing can answer questions about how a mother’s body processes nutrients and shares them with her baby when pregnant and breastfeeding. Solutions like Genate (www.genate.com), from SNP Therapeutics, are already on the market and offer parents an opportunity to take advantage of the latest developments in prenatal and infant precision nutrition. The Genate Test checks for genetically-caused inefficiencies in one-carbon nutrient pathways that can greatly impact fetal brain development and overall growth. One-carbon nutrients include folate, choline, betaine, and vitamin B₁₂. Genate also tests for variants that affect the omega-3 fat DHA, vitamins A, B₆, C, D, K, magnesium, riboflavin, calcium, and iron. Based on their genetics, moms can adjust their diet and supplement plan to meet their body’s needs and give their little one the best nutrition possible. Completing a test like Genate can help moms better understand how their body processes nutrients, and also create some open dialogues with their healthcare provider.

Understand your baby’s gut health and microbiome

During development, babies are forming many of their healthy body functions that will carry forward into childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Current adult understanding of gut health, microbiome, and digestive health issues is pushing discovery of gut health back to infancy. Our little ones are forming a gut health foundation in the first 6 months of life and need good bacteria to establish a healthy microbiome for lifelong gut & immune health. Nurturing those “tiny tummies” with good bacteria is what experts like Evivo (www.evivo.com) have been innovating for years & seeing increases of ~5x of the healthy bacteria in infants consuming breast milk.

Evivo’s offering is an example of a science-based solution derived from a strong understanding of genetics and microbiome. Find great information and tips on Evivo’s site as well as educational videos. Parents can avoid an unhappy little one suffering from restless sleep and digestive challenges, while supporting baby’s gut & immune health. Evivo is a simple but powerful solution available to parents interested in giving their children a great start.

Protect your child’s total health with predisposition testing

Our bodies contain endless amount of information, answering new questions about human health every day. Parents have more answers today than ever before. However, if we want to keep science on the side of parents, how do we address perhaps the largest looming questions for parents? What questions should parents be asking? What if parents don’t know what questions to ask? Is science still on parents' side?

YES! The strength of precision medicine is that it works off of our understanding of baseline health and how our genes and genetics should behave. Genetic testing for newborns, infants and children can help parents understand predisposition to disease as well as medication allergies before symptoms arise. Knowing more, and knowing early, puts parents in the best position possible to have a comprehensive understanding of their child’s health and maximize outcomes, treatments and symptom management with proactive action.

FORESITE 360 (www.foresite360.com) is a 100% DNA test addressing both disease pre-disposition and medication allergy and dosage health issues. FORESITE 360 currently looks at children’s pre-disposition to over 300 diseases and expands annually to include industry researched and verified gene-conditions (~30 conditions on average added annually). Every year, through age 18, parents receive an updated genetic report on their child notifying them if any new genetic discoveries are important to their child’s health. FORESITE 360 is an at-home cheek swab test and comes complete with all physician approvals and expert genetic counseling through virtual telemedicine. No visits, no referrals, just a simple connection to our website for parents to get their little one started.  

Be a science parent!

Precision medicine is not the health solution of tomorrow. It’s the powerful and comprehensive health solution for today’s parents. It’s the unique story of you, your little one, and every health challenge understood by today’s and tomorrow’s science discoveries. Precision medicine is the next great conversation between you and your family physician. It’s the connection to a world of discovery in human health.

Be a science parent! Learn something new about your family’s health.

For those looking for deeper insights into genetic screenings, check out our informative E-book, Parent’s Guide to Newborn and Infant Genomics.