Last Christmas Mr Smaggle bought each of us a rather odd little present. He got us a 23andMe kit which tests your DNA and gives you information on your health and genetics. It used to cost thousands of dollars to have your DNA tested but this company got a massive grant to subsidise $99 kits for 1 million people to better understand genetics and DNA across a large test group. I had several people who were interested in hearing about our testing experience so here’s a bit of info about the process.
What I learned from the testing…
– It’s probably best to complete the test on your own. We sat down to do the test together and literally spat in a cup, side by side, for like 20 minutes. It was pretty gross. I actually like gross stuff, but even I found it a touch too much to watch my beloved hock about 20 loogies in a row.
– Do your research before you freak out over your results. Mr Smaggle came back with a 47% chance of heart disease and I promptly started planning my future as a young widow. Turns out the whole population has a 46.8% chance of heart disease so he was only in the mild extra risk category.
– Be prepared to hear some things you might not want to hear. My results came back with an increased risk factor for psoriasis. It could be much worse, I could be heading towards colon cancer or MS but that doesn’t change the fact that I might be going to have some lovely skin issues to look forward to in the future. Yay me.
– Be prepared to have some suspicions confirmed. One of my main results is that I’m a general over indulge-er and if I don’t concentrate I over consume things like food and alcohol. It’s only if I’m already consuming though. If I’m not drinking alcohol for a month or if I’m consciously watching my weight, I’m quite disciplined. I always suspected that I had a harder time saying no to that second (or third) glass of wine and there’s something very satisfying about having that confirmed. It’s made me much more aware of my tendencies to over eat and over drink. Mr Smaggle came back as 73% likely to have coeliac disease. Which he has. It’s pretty cool.
– It can be a little creepy. For example my report says that I have curlier than average hair and a 79% chance of having blue eyes. Both are true and it’s a bit unnerving that they figured that out from a tiny vial of my saliva. Also it’s made me paranoid about how easy it would be to identify me if I ever committed a crime. Note to self: no murdering people.
– It’s possible you might find out you aren’t related to someone you thought you were related to. They do an ethnicity test so you know what region you originated from and if you’re switched on you could probably figure out that your mum might have had an affair with the milkman. I’m obviously not saying that’s what happened but my results confirmed that my parents are indeed my parents so naturally the opposite can also happen, so just be wary.
Should you do the testing?
I’d say from my experience, yes. Absolutely. However my biggest threat is a possible rash and a predisposition to not stop myself eating a second hamburger so I got off really lightly. So did Mr Smaggle. I’m not sure how I’d feel if I tested high for breast cancer or alzhiemer’s. Although none of the results are conclusive, they’re just things to keep on your radar. I think I can safely say though that if I did have the possibility of cancer in my future (which, let’s face it, we all have a possibility of cancer in our future) then I’d rather it be on my radar. Even if finding out that you have an increased risk of breast cancer makes you get more regular check ups then it can only be a good thing.
What do you think of DNA testing? Would you ever have it done?
18 Comments
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Fascinating. I listened to this podcast recently on genetic testing and it’s well worth the listen http://freakonomics.com/2013/06/20/do-you-really-want-to-know-your-future-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/ … all about why some people choose NOT to know their future ๐
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Oh, I’ll totally listen to that! I’d be surprised if Mr Smags hasn’t listened to it already.
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Totally fascinating, not sure if I would do this just for curiosity, but I love hearing all about it. I think it’s a good idea for everyone to give their parents the bowel cancer test for Christmas – it’s not expensive and you can put it in the post – It could be the present that makes them be around at the next Christmas.
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We did purely out of curiosity and weren’t surprised at all by the results. Except for one weird one Mr Smaggle. Apparently he has the highly addictive gene for herion! So if he ever tries it, he has an increased risk of getting hooked! Fascinating!
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I’m in the position of having an autoimmune disease with a genetic component that makes multi-system organ failure and lung cancer more likely. I do what I can to live healthily so I feel like I have some sense of control, but I don’t think those lifestyle choices actually reduce my chance of getting it. So it’s not always as clear-cut as, find out you have it and be able to do something about it! I didn’t have a choice to find out, and there’s not much I can do about it – I can’t get a preventative lung-ectomy ๐ Although I can be more vigilant in screening, I would have been anyway since my grandmother died of lung cancer (she had the same autoimmune disease, it just wasn’t correctly identified until after she died).
I’m not sure if I’d rather have not known – on one hand I like to be prepared for things, on the other, it adds a lot of extra pressure in terms of trying to achieve everything really quickly, which adds to my stress generally.
Also, having to tell my boyfriend what was in store when I got a diagnosis was crazy hard, and if you did a genetic test and found a super-high risk of something awful I imagine the same would apply. Interesting topic!
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That’s really hard. Thank you for sharing. I always think that the more information you have, the better. Anything that makes people more vigilant with their screening can only be a good thing. x
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Well said Smaggs
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Gah.
I think this company is quite irresponsible.
Lots of considerations need to be made with genetic testing, including but not at all restricted to
-the fact that many diseases are multifactorial in origin
-the fact that there is more than one predisposition gene for many illnesses, even when there is a strong genetic component
-the implications for taking up health insurance
-whether the disease is preventable or treatable
-that a number, or a percentage risk actually means very little if you end up going on and developing the diseaseGenetic testing is most appropriate for a known disorder with known gene defects, or loci, to test for, where there is treatment or knowing the result might allow prevention of problems or planning for the future. They should be done by somebody with appropriate training (ie physician specialising in genetics) with support from a genetic counsellor.
This includes diseases like haemochromatosis, certain BRCA1 and BRCA2-related breast cancers and Huntingtons disease.
Screening is a different thing entirely.
Sorry Smags but as a Physician (FRACP) I think this thing you used is at best not useful and at worst gives false reassurance or potentially might replace proper surveillance and medical review. I hope it says “this does not replace medical advice” on the pack.
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I’m glad someone else said all this and saved me the trouble of typing it out ๐ These at-home type genetic tests need to be taken with a very, very big pinch of salt.
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I did take it with a grain of salt. I used the words ‘possibility’ ‘might’ ‘increased risk factor’. I also stated that none of the tests are conclusive. I’m not quite sure what I’m missing here. ๐
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Of course it says that on the pack. There’s so much information that I couldn’t include it all in this post. I obviously don’t think that this is rock solid medical advice, as I said in the article, everything is based on possibilities and present gene strands that may or may not lead to certain health risks. I’m not a physician so the hard core science behind it is not something I’m familiar with but Mr Smags tested highly for coeliacs and I tested highly for blue eyes and curly hair both of which are true. That’s pretty cool is it not? I took the testing with a grain of salt, as I said in this post. I stated quite plainly that none of the results are conclusive but merely a suggestion of a present gene. Is there something dogdy I’m missing?
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Your definition of dodgy and mine might differ. I had a quick look at the website. There are a number of issues I have. If you are interested I can elaborate, but here is not the place.
It throws up some interesting things to talk about, and there are scientific and ethical aspects to it.
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There is a company who gives you a cheek swab and you send it back and they make a pretty picture of your DNA.
Now that shit’s cool.-
That DOES sound cool!
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Seriously I got half way through this post before getting into a big discussion with my partner and his family about whether I need to get this done. You see, I don’t know one side of my family (very messy divorce…) and my mother refuses to talk about my father and his side of the family, they got divorced when I was two. He also lives overseas and I don’t even know his name (which my mother will not disclose just based on her hatred) so I can’t FB him or anything and ask about family history.
So I have no idea if there is a mixed bag of horrible genetics seething inside me from that side of the family! I have been really wanting to get a genetics test for a while as a result….but at the same time I am terrified.Do I REALLY want to find out about something that can’t really be prevented from happening and then living the rest of my life in utter misery and despair waiting, waiting…? Then what do I do? I feel like knowing that something horrible has a 70% chance of happening will be more likely to kill me more than any MS or Cancer….
At the same time what if it is something bad, but that can be prevented with a change in life style?
I think for now I might settle with how things are at the moment, getting a blood test once a year and getting all of the girl things checked.-
Well nothing is ever conclusive in these test unless they’re looking for something in particular. If something comes up as high risk, it just means it’s something that you should look out for, not change you life around. Don’t be terrified. My parents are still together and I know almost nothing about their medical history. There’s mental illness on my dad’s side and diabetes on my mother’s side but that doesn’t mean anything! It’s all second info. x
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What if, like me, you ever need a bone marrow or some other transplant? I would be very handy indeed to know all of your family. None of mine were a match for me however so I ended up having my own stem cells harvested “washed” and transplanted.
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Absolutely, yes I would. I already have cancer (diagnosed in 1996) and like you am an over indulger. Neither of these has killed me and I’ve reached the ripe old age of 64 — when I die at least I will die happy
