Decoding My DNA with 23andMe

When I was pregnant with Shane, Justin & I went to the doctor for my initial visit and they handed us the typical paperwork to fill out. When we got to the family history section, I felt like I checked almost every box. Between my mom’s side & my dad’s side, my family has covered most grounds for disease: Type 2 diabetes runs in my dad’s family, and cancer has sadly taken out several branches on our family tree.

Since then, I’ve always kind of wondered what kind of fate I could be handing my kids. With so many people in my family getting diabetes & cancer, I was certain that I must have an astronomical risk of developing one of them, and that my kids would as well. So when I had the chance to have my DNA analyzed by 23andMe, I jumped on it!

23andMe is a service that sends you an at-home kit to collect your DNA {don’t worry, they just use some saliva} & then you send it in to their lab, where they process it. About a month later, you get an email & depending on what the results are, it can be a lot like opening presents on Christmas or going through a haunted house on Halloween. But if you want to know how your family history will likely affect your future, it’s a risk you may be willing to take.

Using the kit is simple, and literally just involves you spitting into a tube. &Shipping the kit back to them is easy too- shipping is pre-paid and you just pop the completed kit into a mailbox! Before you send it though, you have to register for an account with them so they can upload the results of over 240 health reports to it when they’re done with it. &In addition to finding out about your health, you can learn about your ancestry as well! When 23andMe first came out, the price of an analysis was $1,000. Over time, they’ve managed to lower the price to just $99, making it widely available and resulting in over a quarter of a million members- the largest DNA-based ancestry service worldwide!

My Health Experience

While I nervously waited a few weeks for my results, I mentioned to my parents that I had submitted a kit. It was at this time that my dad told me that heart disease & Parkinson’s were also issues in his family, albeit not as much as cancer or diabetes. So, I became even more nervous for what my results would say!

When I got the email from 23andMe telling me that my results were ready, I was afraid to look but so excited at the same time. After all, I knew that having an increased risk of something didn’t necessarily mean it would affect me ever, let alone right now. {&There’s no DNA marker for “You’ll-Get-Hit-By-A-Bus-One-Day” either, so it’s really not like finding out how you’ll die.}

First, I scanned for the things that I knew I needed to look out for, and found out that I actually had a decreased risk of Parkinson’s and a few cancer varieties. I have only a typical risk of type 2 diabetes {the kind that tends to strike in my family- and not as a weight issue, either}, several more cancers, &sudden cardiac arrest. That said, I did find out that I have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer, coronary heart disease {2x the typical risk}, venous thromboembolism {3x the typical risk}, atrial fibrillation & esophageal and stomach cancers.

Since all of these risks are determined by genes alone, there is a lot of room for me to now be aware of this & make lifestyle choices to try to prevent these issues. I don’t smoke or drink, so that will help combat the increased risk of esophageal & stomach cancers. I know to look out for blood clots now, and will give a head’s up to my OB & later, my general doctor. &As for the heart risks? Knowing about them has really motivated me to watch out for my heart health even more. As a 24 year old, I don’t typically think about heart attacks often but if I want to prevent something happening later down the line, I need to start being proactive right now.

My Ancestry Experience

23andMe is able to tell you where your ancestors lived. In my case, I am 99% European, and it confirmed that I am much more Italian than anything else. With over a quarter of a million members on the site, there’s a good chance everyone has some relatives on there, and 23andMe will notify you if they find one. {All profiles are anonymous by default and you can choose whether or not to have any of your information visible should you choose not to participate in this aspect.} I have already been contacted by someone who is likely to be a third cousin & she mentioned her ancestors being from the same two areas of Italy {Sicily & Southern Italy} where my Dad’s side comes from! We haven’t spoken much yet, but according to 23andMe I have hundreds of cousins on there {the closest being third cousins, and some of them being incredibly distant ones} so for anyone into ancestry, this could be a really fun way to map out your family tree.

If you’ve ever been curious about your genetic health risks or just wanted to know more about your ancestry, I really recommend 23andMe. It was so easy to use & at just $99, it provides so much valuable information for such a small price. You can pick up a kit online!

Would you want to know your health risks?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.