I got good news yesterday -- my 23andMe sample has been analyzed, and the data is starting to arrive!
Only the preliminary health information has arrived, but it's interesting so far. First, they tell me that I have 3.3% Neanderthal DNA. I was predicting that THAT was going to be on the high side, because of my stocky build and unattractive profile, but I probably wouldn't have expected being in the 99th percentile....
Of the "high confidence"-quality associations, it turns out that I don't have VERY high likelihood of being predisposed to illness save in age-related macular degeneration, gallstones, lung cancer, bipolarity, and limited cutaneous type scleroderma. Since i'm a non-smoking low-carber, i'm not too worried.
Interestingly enough, some things I have minor risks for, I also have ameliorating genes for as well. Take the bipolar thing -- I have a 0.20% risk as compared to the 0.14% which is "normal." However, on the list of "decreased risk" results, I ALSO have bipolar disorder -- one reduced-risk marker, and two "typical" ones. Mercifully, there's no record of other family members having a problem with this disorder.
Predictably I have two increased-risk markers for hypothyroidism alongside three normal ones, and I have a moderately-increased (not "substantially-increased) risk on the one gene they identified for Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Looks to me as though the wrong diet is enough to epigenetically push a borderline case like me over into active hypothyroidism.
I eagerly look forward to getting the rest of my results over the next couple of weeks, and to plugging my results into the other SNP-decoding services I've heard of. But the first wave of information I've received is not bad -- i'm sure glad I did this!
Sorry Tess, I must have missed the post when you were talking about this test.
ReplyDeleteBut - I'm glad you're glad you did this.
If you don't mind me asking why did you do this test?
Thanks and take care
All the best Jan
:-) I think Wooo took the plunge first, and Sidereal did too at close to the same time, and Anna of Lifextension, and Kim (a commenter and facebook friend) as well. their findings were so interesting, I decided to go for it, too!
Deletei expect that DNA testing will become the most valuable tool for promoting health since vaccination was developed. if we know what vulnerabilities we inherit, we can take steps to protect ourselves. it has become obvious that what's optimal for one person isn't necessarily so for another, and now we can quantify and qualify this much better.
Thanks Tess. The advances made with DNA testing in recent years have been amazing, and a lot of good has come because of it. I wish you well in the coming days when you get more results through.
DeleteHowever, I think caution should still be given as to who may have access to these tests. There is cause for good 'out there' but you still get some who mis-use - the same with any systems, information etc.
Take Care and
All the best Jan