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they would gain weight any-
way. So, she decided to take 
what she had learned through 
her coaching and training in 
obesity medicine to start her 
own weight loss coaching 
business. 
“I didn’t have time to do this 
in my practice. It’s not like I 
could give detailed weight loss 
advice during a seven-minute 
check-up. Those conversations 
require time and, in a medical 
practice, you only have a small 
window of opportunity to 
bring up a topic,
” she said.
Weight loss is a multifaceted 
approach, not a one-size-fits-
all solution, and Lerner needs 
to get to know her clients 
before putting together a 
successful plan to help them 
lose weight. First, she’ll have a 
preliminary conversation with 
a prospective client to make 
sure they are a good fit for the 
program — and that they are 
truly ready to make a lifestyle 
change. Then they meet on a 
weekly basis, for an hour, in 
addition to quick daily check-
ins to hold them accountable 
and keep them motivated.
“I love working with people 
on weight loss. I love talking 
to them about it. I love seeing 
that transformation. I love see-
ing them develop a different 
view of themselves and how to 
manage their lives. I really just 

revel in watching that change 
unfold,
” she said. 
Lerner usually takes on 
clients who have a significant 
amount of weight to lose 
and have tried other weight 
loss programs that have been 
unsuccessful. She’s found one 
common reason why many 
of her clients have difficulty 
losing weight — because they 
expect it to be difficult. That’s 
why she makes it her goal to 
get people out of their own 
heads. 
“If you change your expec-
tations, it gets easier. I think 
that’s a really important mes-
sage for a lot of people. The 
mind-body connection is very 
real, and everything we think 
impacts our hormonal and 
neurological response,
” she 
said. 
“You need to be able to visu-
alize what it’ll look like when 
you’re at lower weight and 
work through the obstacles 
that are keeping you anchored 
where you’re at. You need to 
have a really clear image of 
where you want to go and 
where you want to end up.
” 

Dr. Lerner’s Wellness and Weight 

Loss program is for adults, age 25 

and up, and she currently has lim-

ited availability for new clients. For 

inquiries, email her at sandra@drsan-

dralerner.com. For more information, 

visit https://drsandralerner.com. 

GET TO A HEALTHY WEIGHT from page 49

For each carrier of the Tay-
Sachs gene, there is a 50% 
chance of passing it down to 
a child and, if both parents 
are carriers, there is a 25% 
chance that their child will 
have Tay-Sachs. 
The test has evolved in its 
scope and accuracy. JScreen’s 
reproductive screening test 
provides a deep genetic 
analysis of more than 200 
diseases, 100 of which are 
more common among Jewish 
people, Hardy says. The test 
uses a small saliva sample 
that undergoes DNA analysis 
in a California laboratory. 
JScreen Detroit, a program 
of the JCC’s JFamily, offers a 
mail-in genetic 
screening kit for 
$18 with support 
from the Lacey 
Foon Family 
Foundation to 
cover the remain-
ing $131 cost. 
Stephanie Erez, 
JFamily’s director of commu-
nity building and leadership 
development, reports that 
JScreen has subsidized more 
than 300 genetic screening 
kits (reproductive and cancer 
screenings combined) during 
the past 18 months. Of the 
reproductive genetic screen-
ings, 75% of the individuals 
were positive for at least one 
disease on the panel. On 
average, participants tested 
positive for two disease genes 
on the panel, and one person 
was positive for five diseases.

Those who are tested 
choose either a telephone 
or video appointment with 
a genetic counselor to 
explain their test results. A 
Farmington Hills woman 
who prefers not to be identi-
fied took the JScreen test at 
the suggestion of a relative, 
who mentioned that a dis-
count was being offered. 
“It was easy to set up an 
appointment with a genetic 

counselor. I was a carrier of 
Tay-Sachs, which was not 
the news I wanted to hear 
but the reason I wanted to 
be tested. It was upsetting to 
learn but reassuring to hear 
all the options for having a 
child,” she said.
If both prospective par-
ents carry the Tay-Sachs 
gene, in vitro fertilization 
can be used, and the embryo 
can be tested very early 
when it is only a small 
group of cells. Then, an 
embryo without the Tay-
Sachs gene can be implant-
ed. 
Testing for the Tay-Sachs 
gene can also be done 
during pregnancy with 
amniocentesis or chorion-
ic villus sampling (CVS). 
Hardy explains that CVS, 
which analyzes a placental 
sample for the Tay-Sachs 
gene, can be done from 
weeks 11 to 14 during 
pregnancy. Amniocentesis, 
which is a more direct mea-
sure for the gene, is per-
formed at 15 to 16 weeks. 
There is a slight risk — less 
than 1% — to the fetus, 
Hardy says.
Hardy recommends that 
all Jewish individuals from 
18 to 45 should have genetic 
screenings, pointing out that 
genetic diseases are not lim-
ited to Ashkenazi Jews. For 
example, she explains that 
cystic fibrosis is as common 
among northern Europeans 
as among Ashkenazi Jews. 
“Knowing what they have 
puts the power back into 
the couple or individual,” 
she says. JScreen Detroit’s 
mission is “to save lives by 
providing detection for pre-
ventable hereditary cancers 
and genetic diseases among 
the Jewish community.” 

For more information about genetic 

screening visit https://jfamily.jccdet.

org/jscreen.

Stephanie 
Erez

