Looks like the trainer is holding something, no? He claims it's dental rolls http://www.eastsideboxing.com/2013/alex-ariz… Read more

HPV screening for cervical cancer, anal cancer, & penile cancer have very different pre-test probabilities. Not sure you want to compare that to NCAA-mandated screening of sickle cell disease/trait. Read more

That's the nuance that's being missed. In addition to sickle cell disease, this test will identify people with sickle cell trait, an essentially benign condition. The needless suffering is more likely to be mental - without the proper genetic counseling, young athletes will worry that they have a life-altering disease… Read more

That's a terrific point. Is it safe to walk up six flights of stairs? This topic probably warrants a longer discussion; it also reinforces the importance of genetic counseling. Read more

Thank you. And it's funny you mention the Italian screening program for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. There was a great debate about it in the New England Journal of Medicine just three weeks ago that begins with this vignette: Read more

Great point; screening could ultimately be a good thing if the NCAA performs the screen in the right way. It will be important to know who has access to the test results. Could Nick Saban yank a scholarship from an athlete who tests positive for sickle cell trait? Read more

The citation is the paper I sent. It has been well-documented how these sickle cell screening programs have been used to systematically target and discriminate against African-Americans. Read more

Counseling is a crucial part of genetic testing. Forcing an eighteen-year-old to submit to a test without having someone available to help interpret that test is very problematic, as we've seen time and again. This is a nice peer-reviewed study that summarizes the numerous concerns: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti… Read more