The New Mid-Life: Rebecca Eckler gets the inside scoop on her genes and what they mean

Most new mid-lifers these days want to live a long and healthy life. Well, 23andMe is a site where you can order a DNA kit to learn how you can do just that.

The results from your kit will provide you with detailed information on your medical health, ancestral origins and your response to certain medications. Alhough these are important facts to know about yourself, what I found most rewarding was that my results provided me with proof of conditions I had claimed to have for years! 

For example, as I’ve told many, many people, I have an increased sensitivity to pain, and now I have the proof because my results confirmed it! But to tell you the truth, at first, this new mid-lifer didn’t really want to know what 23andMe offers with these DNA kits. I didn’t want to know if I’m at risk for any inherited conditions or passing them on. So I took a lighthearted approach to the whole process. 

For $199, 23andMe sends you an in-home kit, where you have to spit into a tube. So I spit, spit, spit until I hit the correct line on the saliva sample. I am not a good spitter. It took me almost 10 minutes. The next step is to create an online account with 23andMe and register my kit with that account. Then I mail the kit back to the company and fill out an online questionnaire. This takes a bit of time. 

About six to eight weeks later, you will get an email from 23andMe telling you your results are ready. 

Why 23? The company’s name refers to the fact that human DNA is organized into 23 pairs of chromosomes. The results you receive from the DNA kit will connect you with your unique, paired set of 23 chromosomes.

The report with your results provides you with information on what diseases you could be at risk for; however, the company is quick to note that they do not diagnose diseases. They recommend that you work with your doctor to determine what you can change and how to manage what you can’t. 

Your results provide you with the ability to explore your genetic rates for everything from lactose intolerance to male pattern baldness. (I hope I don’t get that!) 

I do agree that “better health starts with a healthy awareness,” but the details of the results are overwhelming. What if I don’t want to know if I’m lactose intolerant? I’ve never had any problems with lactose before! 

I feel like I’m in first year medical school when I begin reading my results. 

For example, when it comes to my production of stomach acid, it tells me, “Likely an ultra-rapid or rapid metabolizer. Someone with this genotype typically metabolizes certain PPIs at a rapid pace … if you are taking a PPI and your symptoms do not improve, consider talking to your doctor.”

First, I hope many doctors will read this and tell me what the heck it means. I’ve never noticed any stomach problems before this test! 

I’m also likely, I find out, to be more sensitive to warfarin (a blood thinner) based on my genetics. “Genetic information may only be useful when determining an initial dose of warfarin,” my report reads.

This is when I start freaking out: all these “problems” that I completely don’t understand. This report is so detailed that if you were looking to having a healthy awareness, you’d be like a kid on a Disney cruise.

You can find out everything from your earwax type (gross, I know) to finger length ratio to the iris pattern in your eyes. 

Quite frankly, while reading the report, which I do become addicted to, I just want to know if there is something really serious that I need to worry about. I suppose I could care that I weigh one to three pounds lower than typical for adults, except I’ve always been petite, so no shock there and nothing that will kill me, like, tomorrow.

I guess I’m glad the results are mostly positive. I’m also glad to find out I have no variants for a higher risk for Alzhemier’s disease. 

And guess what? I am likely to be lactose intolerant due to lack of the lactase enzyme as an adult, which my body needs to completely digest whole milk.

All in all, I spent more than two hours looking at my results. So yes, I learned a lot about myself. And, it seems I am in good health … from what I gather. I just need a doctor to understand it all.

 

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