Photograph: Courtesy of 23 and Me
I’m a lightweight sleeper and am delicate to dairy. I like operating — simply not marathons — and begin my days with a cup (or two…) of espresso. That is sounding like a courting profile, but it surely’s truly a genetic take a look at. It seems these idiosyncrasies about my well being are all a part of my DNA make-up. And extra importantly, they could possibly be clues to my particular person well being dangers.
You’ve in all probability heard of 23 and Me, a well being and ancestry take a look at that features experiences in your genetic well being dangers (like late-onset Alzheimer’s), wellness, service standing and bodily traits. 23 and Me is known as after the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up your deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). And whereas it’s fascinating to make use of that science to find out precisely the place my household originates from, I used to be extra curious what all of it meant for my well being.
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Photograph: Courtesy of 23 and Me
23 and Me: Understanding Our DNA
In contrast to different genetic checks that always require blood work, 23 and Me attracts up these experiences from a small saliva pattern that you just ship again to their lab. After six to eight weeks of processing and analyzing your saliva, you’ll obtain outcomes by way of e-mail.
Jhulianna Cintron, a product specialist at 23 and Me, says, “We consider individuals ought to have the chance to entry, perceive and profit from the human genome. That could possibly be studying about their genetic ancestry, what well being dangers they might have or discovering that their propensity for an additional cup of espresso may very well be their chromosomes.”
However earlier than diving into what makes me “me,” first a refresher on what precisely is DNA. Your DNA is present in virtually each cell in your physique and is comprised of sequences of small models which might be represented by the letters A, T, C and G. These DNA sequences are packaged into 23 pairs of chromosomes with directions on how our our bodies take in meals and construct muscle fibers. For each pair of chromosomes, you inherit one out of your mom and one out of your father. People principally have the identical DNA sequences, however the variations between us are variants that we inherit from our mother and father. These variants embody well being situations, bodily traits and ancestries.
“With ancestry, it’s much less about how we differ and extra about our similarities,” Cintron says. “We examine clients’ DNA to 31 reference populations from areas all over the world and search for similarities.”
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The Stories: Provider Standing and Well being Dangers
I used to be amazed by the small print of the outcomes. There are 4 experiences on genetic well being dangers, 4 ancestry experiences, 5 wellness experiences, 40+ service standing experiences and 15+ traits experiences. The service standing experiences present whether or not you’re a service for uncommon illnesses, like cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia or Tay-Sachs. Happily, my service standing experiences didn’t detect any variants for uncommon illnesses.
Dr. Jeffrey Pollard, director of medical affairs at 23 and Me, says, “The 23 and Me service standing experiences inform people about variants that seemingly don’t have an effect on their well being, however might have an effect on the well being of their future household. Being a ‘service’ signifies that the person carries one genetic variant for a situation, which they might cross right down to their youngsters.”
Alternatively, the genetic well being threat experiences let you know about genetic variants that will improve your threat for growing sure well being situations, akin to late-onset Alzheimer’s illness and Parkinson’s illness.
“Figuring out one’s household historical past of a situation can present insights into their very own threat. Nonetheless, for a lot of situations, genetics quantities to only one a part of an individual’s complete threat. Not everybody with a genetic threat variant or household historical past will develop the related well being situation,” Dr. Pollard explains.
Household Historical past vs. Weight loss program and Life-style
My maternal grandfather suffered from Parkinson’s illness and Alzheimer’s illness, however my checks didn’t reveal any variants. Whereas the experiences present that I don’t have genetic variants for these situations, it doesn’t essentially imply that I gained’t develop them. Weight loss program, way of life and environmental elements additionally play a job in my well being dangers, Dr. Pollard says. My probabilities of growing coronary heart illness, diabetes and dementia improve, if I don’t train, eat wholesome and am in a relentless state of stress, for instance.
“Different elements, akin to issues which have occurred to a person over their lifetime, typically contribute to a person’s total threat. In some instances, people might be able to scale back threat by managing these non-genetic elements,” Dr. Pollard says.
Dr. Pollard stresses that whereas 23 and Me and different genetic checks present service info, they don’t diagnose well being situations. In case your outcomes present that you’ve got variants for a illness, don’t freak out. It simply means you will have some well being dangers, however they’ll all be lowered by way of way of life adjustments and with the steering of medical professionals.
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Graphics: Courtesy of Tiffany Ayuda
My Ancestry: The Far East
Some of the attention-grabbing components of my checks is the distinctive story of my ancestry. My outcomes confirmed that I’m 99.2 % East Asian and Native American, 0.7 % South Asian and 0.1 % Sub-Saharan African. Each of my mother and father are Filipino and had been born within the Philippines. However my outcomes present that I had a 3rd, fourth, fifth or sixth great-grandparent who was 100 % Chinese language and was born between 1750 and 1840. East Asia consists of Japan, Korea, China, Mongolia and the Yakut individuals of jap Russia. My outcomes not solely revealed that I’ve some Chinese language ancestry, however that I even have some broadly East Asian blood. A lot for being a real Flip.
However understanding my bloodlines isn’t only for trivia and enjoyable guessing video games. “By realizing your ethnicity, you’ll be able to decide which situations and variants you might be at the next threat of getting,” Cintron says.
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Wellness: I’m a Sprinter and Most Possible Lactose Illiberal
When you’ve ever puzzled why you flip beet crimson after a cocktail or are a lightweight sleeper, the wellness experiences reveal the distinctive well being quirks that form who you might be. The excellent news is that I don’t have the “Asian glow,” like a few of my different East Asian household and pals. The unhealthy information is that I in all probability gained’t be capable of hold mac and cheese as my favourite cheat meal for very lengthy.
It’s not too stunning that my outcomes confirmed that I’m most probably lactose illiberal. Many East Asians are poor in lactase, the enzyme crucial to interrupt down lactose — the sugar present in milk. I like my ice cream and pizza, however I do discover that I don’t digest dairy as nicely, particularly if I’ve an excessive amount of of it. Not too way back, I began utilizing unsweetened almond milk, as an alternative of cow’s milk.
The wellness experiences additionally revealed that my weight is prone to stay regular whether or not I’m on a weight loss plan that’s excessive or low in saturated fats (with the identical variety of energy). Which means if I went all in on a cheeseburger and fries, it wouldn’t have an effect on my weight very a lot. Nevertheless it’s clearly nonetheless essential to restrict such indulgences to forestall coronary heart illness.
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No Sleep for the Sprinter
When it comes to sleep, I’m prone to hold stirring to a minimal (with fewer than 10 limb actions per hour of sleep), however the experiences additionally present that I’m much less prone to be a deep sleeper. This helps clarify why I discover myself waking up in the midst of the evening, whether or not it’s from a automotive alarm outdoors or listening to somebody getting up within the room subsequent door.
And, as a distance runner, I used to be stunned to seek out out that my muscle composition is definitely that of a sprinter. Analysis exhibits that endurance athletes are likely to have extra slow-twitch muscle, whereas sprinters have extra fast-twitch muscle groups. Quick-twitch muscle fibers produce extra power than slow-twitch fibers. Each particular person has a unique proportion. So all these 5Ks and half-marathons I’ve achieved? Possibly my huge second is supposed to occur on the sprinter’s blocks as an alternative.
Dr. Pollard explains, “Most sprinters and endurance athletes differ within the composition and the capabilities of their muscle groups. These variations could also be influenced by each coaching selections and genetic elements.”
Research have discovered that almost all elite energy athletes, together with sprinters and throwers, have a particular genetic variant in a gene associated to muscle composition, Dr. Pollard provides. The muscle composition report compares you to elite athletes based mostly on this variant. So once more, taken with a grain of salt.
As for my morning routine? Curiously sufficient, the checks indicated that I’m extra prone to devour 9 milligrams extra caffeine per day than the common particular person. This explains my love of espresso and why I’m very alert and never a deep sleeper.
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So Ought to You Strive 23 and Me?
At $179, the 23 and Me well being and ancestry take a look at isn’t low cost (the ancestry-only take a look at prices $79). And also you may not achieve life-altering insights that can remodel the way in which you eat, sleep and assume. However for me, 23 and Me helped resolve mysteries about my meals sensitivities and the way they are often traced to my Chinese language bloodline. Plus, it gave me a greater image of whether or not I’m a service for uncommon illnesses that may be handed down.
On the finish of the day, info is energy. Cintron says, “People can select to make use of that info to take a extra energetic function of their well being. They’ll have interaction in additional significant discussions with their healthcare supplier or just change into extra motivated to take steps towards a more healthy life.”
You should buy a 23 and Me well being and ancestry take a look at for $179 or an ancestry-only take a look at for $79 right here, on Amazon or CVS and Goal shops nationwide.
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