Agree w/ traveler, the best way is through 23andme.
DNA mutation discovery:
23andme DNA testing, which covers over 300,000 SnPs or gene conditions… and the service also provides a means to connect with other people throughout the world who share your DNA (literally, 2nd 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th cousins) if you're so inclined to make those connections. Also, you can participate in studies based on your DNA findings and contextual information like health status, lifestyle and other things that help the researchers connect the dots—pretty interesting. But none of it is required.
Step 1
Order your saliva kit from
www.23andme.com for $99
Step 2
Provide the saliva sample and mail the kit back to 23andme.
Step 3
23andme will email you your results in a few weeks—it will be a 30+ page of tens of thousands of SnPs or DNA gene codes… (indecipherable—you will need to have the data interpreted by another source as 23andme no longer does this and when they did previously, it likely wasn't very comprehensive).
Step 4
Upload the data to interpretation services (some are free but you usually get what you pay for). Options:
www.nutrahacker.com makes it very easy and have set up formal communication with 23andme.com so all you have to do is click a button and provide payment ($50 for the full report, which includes a list of medications you might be sensitive to, or just the mutations for $37).
- But if you want to see what the reports look like, do the free report first.
- For the full package, you will automatically receive a fairly detailed report listing the various mutations, their categories (detox, hormonal, cardiac), a brief descript
ion, a list of recommendations for what to take and what to avoid. You also get a list of medications that the mutations may interfere with—much less is explained on this report but it's a place to get started if you see something alarming.
knowyourgenetics.com Yasko's site is geared specifically for methylation mutations so she has a broader list of mutations the program pulls from your 23andme data. Running your data through the program on her site is FREE. Her site also provides detailed information about
the mutation and what to take for it—as well as links to the various supplements to buy.
livewello.com is also a really great resource. I think it's less helpful for the novice. Once you get into it more, I would then venture into this site. For $20 you can upload an extraordinary amount of info and run countless tests. There are several hundred different programs that run your data for mutations.
But with every report you really do need to take into context your other health conditions, lifestyle, and family history. For instance, if you have a heterozygous (only 1 copy of a mutation, verses the more intense homozygous or 2 copies) for conditions leading to diabetes, yet no one in your family history has ever had diabetes then maybe it might not be a huge risk factor for you. OTOH, if you have a lot of family members with diabetes, even though you have only 1 copy of the mutation, diabetes may be a real issue for you.
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