'One Test, Eleven Answers' targets genetic diseases

About one in five Ashkenazi Jews is a carrier of one of 11 life-threatening diseases for which screening tests are now available. That's the message of a new screening education campaign called "One Test, Eleven Answers" launched recently by the Genetic Disease Foundation (GDF).

The campaign, aimed at couples in which one or both members is of Jewish descent, explains that only one blood sample is necessary from each individual to perform all 11 tests. The diseases that can be identified prior to or early in pregnancy are Bloom Syndrome, Canavan Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Familial Dysautonomia, Fanconi Anemia Type C, Gaucher Disease, Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1A, Maple Syrup Urine Disease, Mucolipidosis IV, Type A Niemann-Pick Disease, and Tay-Sachs Disease.