Housecall for Health: Newborn Screening

Would you want your baby screened for an untreatable disease?

FOX’s Colleen Cappon has the latest poll results in today’s “Housecall for Health”…

A new poll shows parents are split over whether to screen their newborns for Fragile X Syndrome.  The survey, published in the journal “Pediatrics,” showed just under 2/3 of women said they would choose to have the screening.

Fragile X is the most common type of inherited mental disability, and even though there’s no treatment, the testing could help parents prepare themselves for the challenges ahead.  It should be noted that although the gene may be present, that may not mean the child will actually suffer from the syndrome.

The findings fuel an ongoing debate over a mandatory newborn screening program in the U.S.