But how reliable and useful are the predictions for all sorts other common diseases?
In May 2006 Illumina signed a deal to help DeCode Genetics find genes for common diseases.
Common diseases such as psoriasis and rare conditions such as dermatomyositis can cause itchy scalp.
It revealed little about how minute genetic variations among people can lead to common diseases.
One reason: Brits have less incidence of common diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and cancer.
Natural-history studies also are used in developing treatments for common diseases, like diabetes and cancers.
Two just-released studies of diabetes drugs could raise new hurdles for experimental medicines that aim to remedy common diseases.
But scientists are now finding that most common diseases are far more complex.
There are turning out to be precious few genetic risk factors for common diseases that have a major impact on an individual.
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People are suffering less from diarrhoea, cholera, pneumonia and other common diseases.
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Writing in the Observer, Mr Cameron said there was a moral reason why action should be taken to prevent children dying from common diseases.
Four-year-old deCode has made news since its founding for its intention to test Iceland's citizenry in order to find genes at the root of common diseases.
It has a dedicated maternity programme and a children's ward that deals with many cases of malnutrition, as well as other common diseases including malaria and HIV.
Numerous companies including 23andme, Decode Genetics, and Navigenics, now sell gene tests or gene scans that purport to identify your risk of various common diseases.
Another Forbes cover story on genetic testing, by Herper and me in 2007, predicted an avalanche of genetic risk findings from DNA chip studies of common diseases.
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The institute also has some prepared phage solutions that it has worked out will kill the bacteria that cause common diseases, such as E.coli, which causes stomach upsets.
Researchers can rapidly prove their drug is hitting its intended target in trials of a few dozen people, then move into large and costly trials in more common diseases.
Growing evidence is suggesting that vitamin D deficiency is more common that previously believed, and that vitamin D may play an important role in many common diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Another problem is that many of the risk genes for common diseases like prostate cancer that are found only confer a slight increase in risk, one that may not be very meaningful to an individual.
But by comparing differences found - and in particular, differences between large groups of people with a particular disease and groups of healthy individuals - scientists are now able to investigate the genetic basis of common diseases.
The twin unit was set up in 1992 to look at the role that genes play in the development of rheumatic diseases in older women and has now expanded to lok at most common diseases, behaviours and traits.
Genes for rare inherited ills such as Huntington's disease guarantee you will get sick, but many of the new genes being discovered for diabetes and other common diseases tweak your risk by only so much, such as 30%--not enough to make you change your life.
But diagnosis in an individual who has only recently been infected can be difficult since early symptoms, such as red eyes and skin rash, are seen more frequently in patients who have more common diseases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The scientists who strived to develop vaccines to common diseases "would be aghast and scratching their heads as they attempted to understand how this extraordinary boon, which along with clean water is one of the most effective public health interventions of the 20th Century, could be denied, " says Dr Shaffner.
Vaccines against diseases such as measles, mumps, and influenza protect millions of people each year, because these are common infectious diseases that spread easily between people.
The aim is to discover genes underpinning rare and common pediatric diseases.
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However, many doctors now go to Cipro and Levaquel first, prescribing them for ear infections, sinus infections, urinary tract infections, and many other common bacterial diseases.
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While we can draw some pretty safe conclusions about the prevention and treatment of some common bone diseases, it is too early to form any useful conclusions about other diseases such as cancer, influenza, or multiple sclerosis.
Even if the idea of a little diarrhea or a urinary tract infection does not faze you (both of which can be caused by E. coli), the problem is that as strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria become more commonplace in our lives, the less we are able to use the drugs to treat common human diseases.
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But off-label use is becoming increasingly common even where diseases aren't lethal.
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