The Benefits of Home Genetic Testing

Posted by alvina on January 30th, 2019

Have you ever wondered about your ancestry, wanted to get to know yourself a little bit better and where you came from? Home genetic testing kits are rapidly growing in popularity, claiming to deliver a whole host of useful and interesting insights.

While it can be a lot of fun and very interesting to trace your lineage back many centuries and discover where you came from, there may be a far more important reason to conduct genetic testing other than to satisfy curiosity.

Genetic health testing is all about discovering whether or not any potential threats are hidden behind the surface. While you may have a healthy lifestyle, getting plenty of exercise and enjoying a healthy diet, there may be more to the story. Even if your doctor gives you a clean bill of health, you may have one of the many genetic disorders.

Unlike viruses that are passed on from one person to another that come into contact with each other, genetic disorders are usually hereditary. In actual fact, they are caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. Before you freak out and begin to panic, be assured that genetic disorders are extremely uncommon. In actual fact, they affect only one in thousands (if not millions) of individuals. That being said, if you want to rule out any latent health problems, then genetic health testing can be a great investment and help you to sleep better at night.

Some examples of genetic disorders include:

- Down syndrome

- Huntington’s disease

- Muscular dystrophy

- Haemophilia

- Cystic fibrosis

- Sickle-cell disease

While genetic health testing is carried out by many public health services, the direct-to-consumer testing is something that’s being marketed to consumers all around the world. It’s big business these days, and growing at a rapid rate, with experts expecting the industry to be worth several billion dollars by 2022.

For the majority of service providers, the first step in the home DNA testing process involves you receiving a specialist kit that you will use to obtain the relevant samples, as well as a basic questionnaire for you to fill in. After sending your samples and data back to the company, they will analyze everything in their lab (or in that of a third party). Once they have completed the analysis, they will send you a written report, or publish your results online, providing you with a login and password to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.

While you can personally visit one of the many clinics to carry out genetic health testing, it may be much easier and more convenient for you to utilize a home genetic testing product. Most of these products will test your blood, requiring you to prick your finger and massage a little blood into the tube. If, however, you’re squeamish when it comes to these things and would rather have someone do it on your behalf, then some products have professionals on hand to come and collect your blood.