DNA testing for health maintenance

[virginia boy]

I recently had my DNA tested and I think it's something every cruiser should have done before making long range plans.

I've discovered that I don't carry the APOE4 gene for Alzheimer's or any of the considerable number of other known genetic diseases in the 23andme database and can make long term plans with reasonable confidence.
https://www.23andme.com/you/health/drug_response/


They also test for your likely responses to certain drugs and which drugs will work or not.

I'm going to copy/paste some of what I've received from 23andme so you can see how helpful this can be. I don't have any financial interest in the company, just a satisfied customer.

Unfortunately, the graph gets screwed up when I post it here but here is a list of some of the diseases tested.

Name Confidence Status
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Variant Absent
Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum with Peripheral Neuropathy (ACCPN)

Variant Absent
Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease

Variant Absent
ARSACS

Variant Absent
Beta Thalassemia

Variant Absent
Bloom's Syndrome

Variant Absent
BRCA Cancer Mutations (Selected)

Variant Absent
Canavan Disease

Variant Absent
Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation Type 1a (PMM2-CDG)

Variant Absent
Cystic Fibrosis

Variant Absent
D-Bifunctional Protein Deficiency

Variant Absent
Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase Deficiency

Variant Absent
DPD Deficiency

Variant Absent
Familial Dysautonomia

Variant Absent
Factor XI Deficiency

Variant Absent
Fanconi Anemia (FANCC-related)

Variant Absent
Familial Hypercholesterolemia Type B

Variant Absent
Familial Hyperinsulinism (ABCC8-related)

Variant Absent
Familial Mediterranean Fever

Variant Absent
G6PD Deficiency

Variant Absent
Gaucher Disease

Variant Absent
GRACILE Syndrome

Variant Absent
Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1a

Variant Absent
Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1b

Variant Absent
Hemochromatosis

Variant Absent
Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 2 (PH2)

Variant Absent
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (MYBPC3 25bp-deletion)

Variant Absent
LAMB3-related Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa

Variant Absent
Limb-girdle Muscular Dystrophy

Variant Absent
Leigh Syndrome, French Canadian Type (LSFC)

Variant Absent
Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase (MCAD) Deficiency

Variant Absent
Maple Syrup Urine Disease Type 1B

Variant Absent
Mucolipidosis IV

Variant Absent
Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (CLN5-related)

Variant Absent
Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (PPT1-related)

Variant Absent
Niemann-Pick Disease Type A

Variant Absent
Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome

Variant Absent
Connexin 26-Related Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Variant Absent
Pendred Syndrome

Variant Absent
Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata Type 1 (RCDP1)

Variant Absent
Salla Disease

Variant Absent
Sickle Cell Anemia & Malaria Resistance

Variant Absent
Tay-Sachs Disease

Variant Absent
Torsion Dystonia

Variant Absent
Tyrosinemia Type I

Variant Absent
Zellweger Syndrome Spectrum

Variant Absent
Phenylketonuria

No Data

[virginia boy]

Here's some more:


Name Confidence Your Risk Avg. Risk Compared to Average
Type 2 Diabetes

37.7% 25.7% 1.47x


Prostate Cancer

26.7% 17.8% 1.50x


Chronic Kidney Disease

5.0% 3.4% 1.45x


Ulcerative Colitis

1.2% 0.8% 1.59x


Multiple Sclerosis

0.5% 0.3% 1.37x


Celiac Disease

0.3% 0.1% 2.54x


Scleroderma (Limited Cutaneous Type)

0.1% 0.1% 1.90x


Asthma



Celiac Disease: Preliminary Research



Glaucoma: Preliminary Research



Gout



Hodgkin Lymphoma



High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)



Hypothyroidism



Keloid



Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS)



Male Infertility



Narcolepsy



Parkinson's Disease: Preliminary Research



Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: Preliminary Research



Progressive Supranuclear Palsy



Thyroid Cancer



Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate



Hypertriglyceridemia



Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease



Sjögren's Syndrome



Decreased Risk
Name Confidence Your Risk Avg. Risk Compared to Average
Coronary Heart Disease

36.6% 46.8% 0.78x


Venous Thromboembolism

9.0% 12.3% 0.73x


Alzheimer's Disease

4.9% 7.2% 0.69x


Age-related Macular Degeneration

2.6% 6.5% 0.40x


Melanoma

2.2% 2.9% 0.75x


Restless Legs Syndrome

1.5% 2.0% 0.74x


Rheumatoid Arthritis

1.0% 2.4% 0.40x


Type 1 Diabetes

0.7% 1.0% 0.69x


Exfoliation Glaucoma

0.6% 0.7% 0.79x


Crohn's Disease

0.4% 0.5% 0.67x


Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC)

0.3% 0.4% 0.80x


Stomach Cancer (Gastric Cardia Adenocarcinoma)

0.2% 0.2% 0.77x


Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

0.05% 0.08% 0.66x


Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm



Atrial Fibrillation: Preliminary Research



Basal Cell Carcinoma



Behçet's Disease



Breast Cancer Risk Modifiers



Cluster Headaches



Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)



Kidney Stones



Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma



Nicotine Dependence



Obesity: Preliminary Research



Paget's Disease of Bone



Pancreatic cancer



Peripheral Arterial Disease



Testicular Cancer



Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease



Developmental Dyslexia



Typical Risk
Name Confidence Your Risk Avg. Risk Compared to Average
Obesity

63.4% 63.9% 0.99x


Atrial Fibrillation

23.0% 27.2% 0.85x


Psoriasis

9.9% 11.4% 0.87x


Lung Cancer

6.9% 8.5% 0.82x


Gallstones

6.2% 7.0% 0.88x


Colorectal Cancer

5.9% 5.6% 1.07x


Parkinson's Disease

1.5% 1.6% 0.93x


Bipolar Disorder

0.10% 0.10% 0.94x


Breast Cancer

0.00% 0.00% 1.00x


Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus)

0.00% 0.00% 1.00x

[perchance]

I would get a second opinion.

[Sailmonkey]

I'm not sure I want to know......but I'm still a little to young to care.

[Blue Stocking]

perchance and Sailmonkey--Oh to be young and immortal

Virginia boy damn good idea.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I'm not sure I want to know......but I'm still a little to young to care.

Given the little we know about DNA testing I won't be doing it -- and I'm 66, no spring chicken. For instance, I have had breast cancer, and both my daughters' doctors were urging them to be tested for the BRCA and B genes.

Turns out there are a lot more genes involved, and being negative for those genes would mean nothing.

What will be, will be.

[Factor]

And still you could get run over by a bus

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by Factor

And still you could get run over by a bus

--only if you stand in front of it--which is something YOU generally control.

[virginia boy]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

Given the little we know about DNA testing I won't be doing it -- and I'm 66, no spring chicken. For instance, I have had breast cancer, and both my daughters' doctors were urging them to be tested for the BRCA and B genes.

Turns out there are a lot more genes involved, and being negative for those genes would mean nothing.

What will be, will be.

According to estimates of lifetime risk, about 12.0 percent of women (120 out of 1,000) in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives compared with about 60 percent of women (600 out of 1,000) who have inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (4, 5). In other words, a woman who has inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 is about five times more likely to develop breast cancer than a woman who does not have such a mutation.
BRCA1 & BRCA2: Cancer Risk & Genetic Testing - National Cancer Institute

Leslie's grandparents were Ashkenazi and was one reason why we both tested so I'm familiar with the BRAC concern. She tested negative but what if...?

I'm pretty certain that if I had a 6 out of 10 chance of developing breast cancer I would have a double mastectomy to reduce the chance to zero.

Burying my head in the sand will never be a viable option for me.

There is much that can be done to avoid premature death and/or illness. Why not test and use whatever prophylactic is available? Why not test and discover that a particular medicine won't work for you?

We have the tools to allow us to be the oldest sailors ever to have sailed! Imagine a whole fleet of centenarian cruisers!

[CarlF]

I'm quite sure that cruising reduces your odds of being run down by a bus

It would be interesting to have a statistical study done of health for long term cruisers against those of the same age living ashore. I'd bet that the increased cruisers risks from sinking, sun cancer, and alchohol are far below land based risks.

[perchance]

If you had a 60% chance of developing a brain tumor would you have your head cut off to reduce the risk to zero? Just playing the devils advocate here. It is not always about your genome, there is a thing called the epi genome that can be altered by environmental factors. Identical twins can develop genetic disease in one and not the other.
If having the test done helps you sleep better at night then more power to you.
The rest of us mere mortals are content not to know since worrying will not change the ultimate outcome that awaits all of us.

[perchance]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

perchance and Sailmonkey--Oh to be young and immortal

Virginia boy damn good idea.

I am neither young nor immortal but if I found out I had high risk of developing testicular cancer I wouldn't run out and get castrated just to join the sopranos in the choir.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

--only if you stand in front of it--which is something YOU generally control.

A bus jumped the curb and hit a bus stop in St. Louis. Several people were killed or seriously injured. Speaking as someone who has dodged death three times now -- we have far less control over our mortality than we imagine. A metaphorical refrigerator could fall on any of us at any time. We will not get out of this life alive.

On that cheerful thought ...

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by virginia boy

According to estimates of lifetime risk, about 12.0 percent of women (120 out of 1,000) in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives compared with about 60 percent of women (600 out of 1,000) who have inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (4, 5). In other words, a woman who has inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 is about five times more likely to develop breast cancer than a woman who does not have such a mutation.
BRCA1 & BRCA2: Cancer Risk & Genetic Testing - National Cancer Institute

Leslie's grandparents were Ashkenazi and was one reason why we both tested so I'm familiar with the BRAC concern. She tested negative but what if...?

I'm pretty certain that if I had a 6 out of 10 chance of developing breast cancer I would have a double mastectomy to reduce the chance to zero.

Burying my head in the sand will never be a viable option for me.

There is much that can be done to avoid premature death and/or illness. Why not test and use whatever prophylactic is available? Why not test and discover that a particular medicine won't work for you?

We have the tools to allow us to be the oldest sailors ever to have sailed! Imagine a whole fleet of centenarian cruisers!

I agree with you, but both of my daughters have chosen careful watchfulness. We do not have any known Ashkenazi relatives, and yet it seems genetic. I have had it, my mother had it, and my grandmother, and my great-grandmother. You do the math ... But my sister, who is 3 years older than me, has not had it.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by perchance

If you had a 60% chance of developing a brain tumor would you have your head cut off to reduce the risk to zero? Just playing the devils advocate here. It is not always about your genome, there is a thing called the epi genome that can be altered by environmental factors. Identical twins can develop genetic disease in one and not the other.
If having the test done helps you sleep better at night then more power to you.
The rest of us mere mortals are content not to know since worrying will not change the ultimate outcome that awaits all of us.

Perchance, your head keeps you alive. Your breasts do not. As a proud Amazon woman I am quite relieved that I had cancer in a non-life supporting part of my body. I have a friend dying of liver cancer. I'm a lucky woman to have had breast cancer instead of liver, or pancreatic, or any number of other kinds of cancer.