DAYTON A W A R D
W I N N I N G
F I N E
L I N E N S
A N D
L I N G E R I E
Empowering parents Why to test for Jewish genetic diseases
Yves Delorme Holiday Sale D E C E M B E R 7 TH - 2 4 TH
Save $50
O N EVE RY $250 PURCHASE O F BED & BATH In The Shops Of Oakwood Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 2426 Far Hills Avenue Dayton, Ohio 45419 Tel: 937.395.1018 www.whispersboutique.com
Only Menorah Candles …
have the brilliance of James Free Diamonds.
By Marshall Weiss The Observer Randy Glaser is the first to admit Jewish genetic testing is a frightening topic. “When you advertise a program about BRCA (hereditary breast and ovarian cancer), you’ll have full attendance a lot of times,” Glaser, chair of the national Jewish Genetic Disease Consortium, said at a community information session cosponsored by the DJCC at the Boonshoft CJCE on Nov. 13. “Women come running to that conference because they’re scared for themselves, they’re afraid of what could happen to them, what will happen to their family, to their sisters,” she said. “But when you talk about children and what people can pass down to their children, people get scared. They get scared and unfortunately they shut down.” Of the 30 or so people who showed up for this evening program, virtually all were over the age of 50. One of the youngest people in the room was panelist Rachael Cross of Dayton. Her son, Joey, was born in 2007. He died 31/2 years later of Tay-Sachs. “I knew something was wrong with my son probably at 10 or 11 weeks,” Cross told the group. “And I always just wondered why he didn’t respond the right way — he didn’t give me the eye contact
Panelists for the Jewish genetic diseases program at the Boonshoft CJCE on Nov. 13: (L to R): Jewish Genetic Disease Consortium Chair Randy Glaser, Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz of Temple Israel, community member Rachael Cross, and Dr. Marvin Miller, pediatric geneticist with Dayton Children’s Hospital. Not pictured: JGDC Program Coordinator Shari Ungerleider.
that I craved.” She said several of her friends who are doctors told her not to worry, not to be “that mom.” Cross took Joey to doctors constantly. A neurologist wondered why Joey would angle his head. Thinking it might be an eye disease, he referred Joey to an ophthalmologist. “So we went in, he was about 11 months,” Cross said, “and the first question he asked me after he dilated him was, am I Jewish. And I looked at him and said there’s only one disease I could really think of and that’s not possible because
Pediatric Dentistry of Beavercreek
Ira Kushnir D.D.S. Specialist for infants, children and young adults
3223 Beaver Vu Drive, Beavercreek, OH 45434 • 427-8400 www.PediatricDentistryofBeavercreek.com Visit Our Website to See What Sets Us Apart!
Wishing You A Very Happy Chanukah!
3100 FAR HILLS AVENUE, DAYTON (937) 298-0171 www.jamesfree.com
Patronize our advertisers. Tell them you saw it in The Observer. PAGE 8
my husband’s not Jewish.” “The most important point of today to get across is that all couples of childbearing age with any type of Jewish heritage should consider screening,” said Shari Ungerleider, JGDC’s program coordinator. “If one person in a couple has any Jewish heritage — interfaith couples, couples that really don’t consider themselves Jewish, have converted — everybody should be screened for Jewish genetic diseases.” Glaser and Ungerleider came from New York for a day of medical rounds in the Dayton area with geneticists and OB/ Gyns, a meeting with local rabbis, and the evening community program. “Randy and I are both parents of affected children,” Ungerleider said. Cross’ mother, Judi Grampp, arranged JGDC’s visit. “All the diseases we’re talking about here are autosomal recessive diseases, which means both parents need to be a carrier of the same gene,” Ungerleider said. If each parent is a carrier of the same disease, there’s a one in four chance of having a child with that disease for each pregnancy. “All of them are devastating diseases,” she added. “When you’re given the diagnosis that your child is not going to live beyond 5 or that long, you have to fill a lot of life in that short time, those short
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • DECEMBER 2013