23andMe personal genetic testing

Thanks for your posts, Nords! Good luck with everything!
 
A few years ago, I searched the net for information regarding early retirement and found this site. This is the first post I read...

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/how-do-did-you-prepare-for-er-20952.html#post387098

Even tho I lurked for a few months, I finally became a member of this forum. Your post helped me a great deal and I have continued to learn because of you and other excellent members of this forum. My thanks goes to you. :)

Follow your passion.... Hope to see you soon.
 
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Nords - you will be missed. Your posts here were definitely a major factor helping me to get comfortable with the idea of ER. You have an amazing gift for hitting the right tone - keeping things light and in perspective even when the topic is life-changing serious. I'll miss hearing how things are going with your DD as she moves into the next phase of her life as well. Hope you will come back and visit occasionally so that others can benefit from your wisdom.
 
Nords,

I've always enjoyed reading your posts. You will be missed.

Wishing you all the best going forward.

omni
 
Even though I am neither military nor US local your posts have often made my day and helped me to prepare for ER.
Thanks so far and all the best to you + family.
 
Nords said:
Took me a long time to get through it and write it up, but it's posted:
23andMe genetic testing
Click to expand...

Great write-up on your blog! I enjoyed it. Sorry to see you go!

We are still waiting on my wife's data to come in but in the meantime I have spent a lot of time going through mine. I was a bit disappointed at the Alzheimer's Disease result showing "no data." Maybe that just means I don't have the marker for that disease, but I wish they would explain that better. Pretty much everyone in my family has heart problems so no surprise there that it was my top disease risk. I'm doing everything I can to stay fit & healthy. I also have type 2 diabetes and skin cancer in my top risks. No history of diabetes in my family that I know of, but a few cases of skin cancer. In the carrier status section none of the markers are present for anything.

Other things I found interesting is my Neanderthal content - a whopping 3.2%! Guess that comes from my heavy European DNA content. And on the bright side there's no marker for male pattern baldness, which runs contrary to my family history.
https://www.23andme.com/you/journal/alzheimers/overview/
 
I have used 23andme. I purchased the kit right after they reduced their price, and I think it was worth it. The two main things I learned - that I am at an increased risk for two specific conditions - came as no surprise to me as both come with a family history.

Obgyn - to answer your question, in general I don't think this is something that should be recommended for patients for disease risk alone -- I think that the results have a high potential of being misinterpreted and the utility from them is probably low. Having said that, and given your specialty - I think that the test could be very useful for determining carrier status. This wasn't really a personal interest of mine since I won't be having kids, but I think that this would be very useful information for prospective parents if there are not cheaper options that your office could arrange.
 
going to think about this one. already know some info i don't "know." had my mom had this info she would not have had me. far too late for me & kids. hmmmm...if i had greater confidence re privacy, i'd bite already, but i won't even put up financial info here or save on fido.
 
Since we've been paying for ltc insurance for 10 years, I'd hate to lose it from taking this test.
 
Gotta figure out how to post free NYT links ... sorry...

excerpt:
ANGELINA JOLIE’S revelation that she had had a preventive double mastectomy was eloquent and brave. She had learned that she inherited a faulty copy of a gene, BRCA1, that put her at high risk for invasive breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer. Now women everywhere are asking: Should I get the same test? What will it cost?

Only one in about 400 women carry mutations to BRCA1 or to a related gene BRCA2, though such hereditary defects are implicated in between 5 percent and 10 percent of all breast cancers. The majority of the 230,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed annually in the United States are not related to these genes. But if you’re that one in 400 women, you’d want to know so you could make informed decisions about your health care.

Unlike routine tests for diabetes or high cholesterol, however, the BRCA gene evaluation — performed by only one company in the United States, Myriad Genetics — is phenomenally expensive, with a “list price” close to $4,000 when a related genomic-rearrangement test is included in the analysis, which oncologists typically recommend.

The question is why? Today, molecular scientists like me can sequence all of an individual’s genes — at least 20,000 of them — for about $1,000. About five cents per gene.

One company, 23andMe, charges people $99 to see if they have gene variants that put them at higher risk for 120 diseases and whether they carry a known heritable mutation in an additional 50, including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and Tay-Sachs disease.
Click to expand...

The rest of the op ed was outrage about the fact that the gene research company justifies the excess charges by stating that insurance companies would be paying most of the charges.

An interesting justification? The new philosophy of science?
 
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I was wondering if you knew if this test covered things like Crigler Naajar syndrome? I'm pretty certain that I'm going to die someday, but would love to know if I was going to pass something this bad down to someone. I don't personally have it but my partner does. This means that if both of us have the mutated gene we could produce children with a fatal illness.
 
Powor said:
I was wondering if you knew if this test covered things like Crigler Naajar syndrome? I'm pretty certain that I'm going to die someday, but would love to know if I was going to pass something this bad down to someone. I don't personally have it but my partner does. This means that if both of us have the mutated gene we could produce children with a fatal illness.
Click to expand...

Powor,

The site says "the 23andMe service includes genetic analysis on all of the following diseases and conditions. This list grows every month as new research is published."

Here's a list of what they test for currently https://www.23andme.com/health/all/

At a quick glance, I did not see Crigler Najjar syndrome listed.

omni
 
I just received my first batch of results from 23andMe. I was prompted to sign up, in part, from this thread. Also because cancer is strong in my family, and we're dealing with alzheimer's in DH's family. I'd previously paid big bucks to get tested for the BRCAx genes. (Negative thank goodness.) My mom died of ovarian cancer. And most of my other relatives died of various cancers as well - my family is a little micro-cancer cluster. Both parents had cancer(s), my brother died young (48) of cancer, after beating his first cancer... my first cousin is on his second malignancy, his sister had cancer... it's very scary.

Anyway - it confirms I don't have the BRCA cancer gene. I have a 1.13 higher chance of bladder cancer, but a much reduced risk of melanoma. Overall, the cancer data was very reassuring. I'll still remain vigilant in monitoring, but it's good to know I don't have any of the big known "gotcha" genes.

It also confirms that I have higher odds of having red hair and freckles. (correct). And lower risk of melanoma... which often comes with fair skin. (And was the first cancer my brother had - and beat.) Oh - and that I have funky crypts in my irises. That's also true.

The only negatives I saw was that I am at slightly higher risk for kidney disease. Oh and I'm susceptible to Heroin addiction... so I should probably avoid shooting up the junk. I think I can make that lifestyle choice. LOL.

My DH is still waiting for his results. We talked about the alzheimer gene - and will arrange our retirement planning around doing some of his bucket list items sooner in retirement if he has it... We'll also make sure we have a plan for caregiving in the long term.

Overall - I'm very relieved with the results.

I hope DH's results are also majority positive news.
 
I'm thinking of getting this for my sister for Christmas. Kinda a cool idea, and something I think she'd like, considering her interest in genealogy.
 
DW and DD just received their kits, so it will be a while before the results come back. As for me, I am kind of up in the air as to what I want or don't want to know.
 
Reminds me that DW and I are going to do this. I'll offer to the kids but I'm not sure they're interested, or can handle the results.
 
We were just talking about this at a dinner with friends, earlier this week. My friend is getting kits for her parents for Christmas.
 
I did this back in January. Interesting stuff. Not really useful so far, but certainly interesting.
 
Nodak said:
Ancestry.com also offers the service for $99.
Click to expand...

Does ancestry give you the health info? Their webpage only mentions ethnicity and family matching... Which fits into their core business.

I was curious if it gave you the same health info - like cancer risks, etc.
 
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