Medical Genetics - V. M. Zaporozhan 2005

Prevention of Hereditary Diseases
Medical-Genetic Counseling
Concept of Medical-Genetic Counseling

This is a type of specialized medical care provided to the public, the primary goal of which is to prevent the birth of children with hereditary disorders and congenital birth defects.

The tasks of MEDICAL Genetic Counseling were first clearly formulated by S. M. Davidenkov in the 1920s. He established the world's first medical genetic counseling clinic in 1929 in Moscow, followed by another in 1932 in Leningrad. However, The Development of medical genetic services stalled in the 1930s across all developed countries. This occurred because Nazi Germany misused genetic concepts to justify genocide. In the USA, the first medical genetic clinics appeared in the 1940s. Nevertheless, this service began to develop rapidly worldwide during the 1960s and 1970s, driven by significant progress in understanding chromosomal abnormalities and Monogenic Diseases, as well as The Emergence of diagnostic capabilities for them.

The term "medical genetic counseling" encompasses two distinct meanings:

— a structural unit within a healthcare system;

— a clinical consultation with a medical geneticist resulting in a professional medical opinion.



Last update: 11/08/2026

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