Personal genetic testing?

[Jim Logajan]

Anyone had any of their personal genetic code sequenced or genotyped for susceptibilty to inheritable diseases? I believe it still costs tens of thousands of dollars to get your entire DNA sequenced, but some places, like 23andMe.com, offer to genotype about a million (out of about 10 to 30 million) of the most "common" variants for a cost of 0.099 AMU ($99).

No diagnosis is made, just probabilities are presented. The analysis is done entirely by machine on saliva samples, and no medical professionals by name are directly involved, so I personally wouldn't report this on a future medical if I did decide to have it done. Given 23andMe's privacy policy and that it probably isn't covered by health insurance anyway, I can't see that the FAA could know or even care if I did it.

At that cost I'll probably do it just out of curiosity, if naught else. One reason I hesitate at all is because I'm not sure that I can do anything differently than I do now (healthy lifestyle choices) for most of the diseases they report on. But I suppose a higher probability of, for example, prostate cancer might make me have more frequent checks. The other hesitation is figuring out how much access to give them to the genotyping for use in their research and that of others.

 

[Norman]

Not sure I would want to know what my genetic code has in store for me. I've enough other things to worry about.

 

[X3 Skier]

Since there's nothing I could do about it, I would not be interested for succeptability to disease. Family history is good enough for me.

OTOH, the type of genetic testing that is related to tracing ancestry and origin has always intrigued me but never spent the money for it.

Cheers

 

[AggieMike88]

Instead of RePet.... RePilot?

 

[flyingron]

Never test for something that you don't know what to do with the results.

If you had a family history of some genetic predisposition for something, and there was something that you might do differently for knowing if you carried that trait, then you could consider testing. Even then it's debatable.

23andme is a gimmick. It serves no health benefit and yes notwithstanding their privacy policy, you can be guaranteed that no health provider would cover it. I doubt the tests are considered medically appropriate in this situation and aren't even an allowable medical expense or charge on your HSA.

You'll find that serious genetic testers won't give you the test without both a medically appropriate reason and also counseling services based on what the results might be.

Note this is a touchy situation for other reasons as well. The current policy (backed up with some laws passed in 2009) severely restrict insurance companies for amassing, requesting, or even offering discounts for genetic testing.

 

[bbchien]

Never test for something that you don't know what to do with the results.

If you had a family history of some genetic predisposition for something, and there was something that you might do differently for knowing if you carried that trait, then you could consider testing. Even then it's debatable.

23andme is a gimmick. It serves no health benefit and yes notwithstanding their privacy policy, you can be guaranteed that no health provider would cover it. I doubt the tests are considered medically appropriate in this situation and aren't even an allowable medical expense or charge on your HSA.

You'll find that serious genetic testers won't give you the test without both a medically appropriate reason and also counseling services based on what the results might be.

Note this is a touchy situation for other reasons as well. The current policy (backed up with some laws passed in 2009) severely restrict insurance companies for amassing, requesting, or even offering discounts for genetic testing

 

[Archammer]

Instead of RePet.... RePilot?

Hahaha!

 

[Matthew]

So far I've limited my genetic testing to keeping track of the health histories of my parents and grandparents.

I know there are circumstances, like passing along a CF gene or finding out you inherited a gene that indicates a much greater than normal chance of cancer, where it would make sense. But in those cases you normally have a family history to give you a hint.

 

[denverpilot]

In the current legal climate, I'd be more concerned about who could legally and illegally access the information at the testing company. The current news about private communications monitoring clearly shows there's a significant trend toward not following the law.

HIPAA is as useful as the toilet paper it's printed on, for the most part. Annoying and expensive for those following the law, not even a speed bump for those above it.