Im not sure I want to know. I could start obsessing, and you can never unknow something.
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Yes, this is true. I discovered a few things Iād rather not know about myself. I think that having the data to make lifestyle changes based on your genetics definitely trumps just wildly trying whatever you can think of.
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Wow! Thanks for this! I have uploaded my DNA data to Nebula Genomics and am interested in seeing the results.
Now, I just have to keep my eyes open for people that look like meā¦ 
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Ouch. Just told me that I am:
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100% percentile for having high ApoB levels
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97% percentile for risk of Atrial Fibrillation.
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95% percentile for risk of Type 2 Diabetes
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96% percentile for Venous thromboembolism (which killed my grandmother)
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95% percentile High genetic predisposition to stroke
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93% percentile for Chronic Kidney Disease
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88% percentile for higher coffee consumption (just had to throw that in here)
I guess itās good to know your Achilles heel(s). Pretty much all of these were not a surprise based on my family history. However, it helps to go from āI think we might have this problem because of what happened to Grandpa Joeā to āDNA evidence shows we need to be careful about this. Look what happened to Grandpa Joeā
I especially liked these ones though
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0% percentile for glaucoma
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0% percentile for pancreatic cancer
I REALLY liked this one:
- 96% percentile Very high genetic predisposition to increased longevity
So if I take care of the issues above, I may be able to realize that last one. Next time I go see my doctor, I will have to investigate these fully. Thanks for helping me find this.
HOWEVER, itās important to note that itās not 100% accurate. For instance:
- 92% percentile High genetic predisposition to higher HDL cholesterol level
I have low HDL levels. So itās not written in stone.
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It is a great resource, but I believe that your environment plays an oversized role in determining your health outcomes.
I found I have a high chance of Bi-polar disorder. It runs in my family, but Iāve managed to avoid it. Your genes arenāt your destiny. What I think this kind of information can you do is to help you steer yourself in another direction. You can adjust your diet accordingly. I also realize that nobody is getting out alive so something is going to get you in the end.
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Iām a bit surprised in the number of responses along the lines of āIād rather not know,ā especially from medical practitioners. i ascribe this to what i term the āAngelinaā effect after Angelina Jolie who had a prophylactic double mastectomy in 2013 after learning she had a variant in her Brac1 gene that statistically increases her chance of getting breast cancer. Thatās a tough call for anyone to make and itās a personal one. I suppose it would be hard not to think about the possibilities once you were given the information. But, as has been pointed out above, genetic testing reveals variants and their associated statistical risks. It is an increased predisposition not a guaranteed outcome, and I am glad to learn about them however dire the statistics. I donāt think I would go for one of the Horvath clock tests that can pinpoint when you will die. But if I had the APOE04 variant I would like to know that so I could adopt lifestyle changes and develop a pharma protocol that lowered my risk of developing Alzheimerās. I went in for a checkup recently and the doctor i saw gave me a long-winded speech about why it was not a good idea to test for PSA. Every male ends up with prostate cancer he said, so why test when it has all these bad side effects like incontinence.But this is just false medical blah-blah for being shunted to a needle biopsy unnecessarily. There are many good alternatives that have no side effects and having a PSA test can make sure you are not in the 5-10% who die of metatastic cancer. So i vote for as much testing that is available and i can afford.
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Nebula seems good, I also have 100th percentile of high apoB levels and 97th percentile for LDL, it isnāt too unsurprising so I think my apoB is going to increase as I get older, last time I checked it was at the 5th percentile. Maybe itās because of my low intake of SFA, and the genes partly decide response to normal SFA intake. Or itās going to increase.
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Thereās no putting that genetic toothpaste knowledge back in the tube, so be careful. I did the 23andme thing a couple years ago and itāll raise the blood pressure of many because inevitably something will show increase risk. Iāve plugged my genome into other sites to get more specific and expansive information and I now run most of my longevity choices on supplements etc. through the lense of my DNA. In my personal opinion, if anyone is actually serious about health and lifespan itās essential. Food choices, pharmaceuticals and supplements can vary greatly by the results. Itās not fun to get scary results, but thereās so much our lifestyle can do to greatly offset risk for most things. Just my two cents.
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DNA testing may have some unwanted consequences.
Bad actors can link your data and trace you (and maybe your family members) to individual level.
This may negatively affect your health insurance, your creditworthiness and make you a target for (political or other) assassination by pro- or by anti-Israel actors, pro- or anti-Ukrainian actors etc.
Your DNA may be used for genetic selection or patented medication without you having a say in it or benefit from it.
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I did 23&M and Promethease. The single most important thing I learned-- it came up at the top of the report with a level 4 magnitude ā was a moderate risk for colon cancer (APC mutation). My grandfather died of it. So now I get colonoscopies every three years. So knowing this was worth the price of admission.
Also got a lot of signals about cardio risk, stroke risk, atherosclerosis risk. 9p21 mutations. Nor sure what to do about this beyond what I am already doing.
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I did the full āNebulaā DNA test, and uploaded to Promethease, and got many different results from the 23&M regarding APOE4 and other genes. I honestly donāt know which to believe.
But on the āfullā analysisā¦ I got a rare PSEN2 mutation 5 Magnitudeā¦ basically saying I should be dead by now. It causes very early Alzheimers, and which kills almost everyone by the time they hit 50. It was also autosomal dominant, so one of my parents should have had this outcome, which they didnāt. Long story shortā¦ after lots of research, I found the gene likely has no effect, and may even be protective.
I also got the rs1333049(C;C) (4 magnitude) for coronary artery disease, but like you, I already am following a heart healthy diet.
Anyway, take everything the reports says with a grain of salt, and do plenty of research.
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Which is why you never use Promethease, itās useless.
Which service do you recommend, instead of Promethease?
I recommend Nebula Genomics, which doesnāt peddle any psuedoscience and is actually useful.
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And they use blockchain to absolutely protect your data privacy. You can share your info for research purposes to scientific institutions or labs but anonymously and even be paid for that. No need to mention Dr. George Church, the more than famous genetist is behind Nebula since the begining.
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