I got it for a deal for $99 on sale, and shipping cost $60 to Canada (return shipping included).
Results will be posted online to my account, so no need to wait for any paper.
I ordered it something like 3 days ago, and I received it REALLY quickly, which was surprising (to me anyway.. as I live in Canada and things habitually get lost in the mail here).
This is what I received in the mail:
When you open the box, it looks like this:
You can follow the instructions to the T with this great diagram:
These are special instructions for INTERNATIONAL deliveries. If you live in the U.S., you will probably get another set of instructions that include mailing the whole box back.
After I mailed it off (the guy at DHL says he gets these things ALL the time, so he knew what to do), I waited about 3 weeks, and received my notifications online that they had completed the tests.
ANCESTRY
I already know where my ancestors were from, so this was not a surprise to me, however it is still cool to see what percentage you’re made up of.
Others who are more mixed, may find it interesting.
I also found a lot of 3rd – 6th cousins, but none that are 2nd or 1st.
This is disappointing, but I will wait and be patient.
HEALTH
This is the part I was most concerned with, because I don’t really know my family beyond my grandparents, and even within my grandparents, I only knew one grandmother.
Never met most of them, never talked to them, have no idea what the family history is like.
I found out major things to keep in mind as risky diseases are: (not all of them are listed)
- Type 2 Diabetes — I knew this before, but I wanted to know how high
- Atrial Fibrillation — I can prevent this from disturbing my blood flow by avoiding becoming obese, stressing out a lot, drinking a lot of alcohol or caffeine (I drink next to none), taking care of infections, watching my blood pressure and to not get diabetes
- Parkinson’s Disease — Trembling, stiffness, impaired balance and coordination are small symptoms that I see happening in my parents, so I have to be aware of that
It’s also nice that they list drugs that you may face problems with, and have to be careful taking if they are prescribed.
I’ll be keeping this list on hand when I go to my doctor’s and if he tells me I need any medication on the list.
That all sounds very scary, but when I looked at my entire list of what I could be diagnosed with, there was more good news than bad.
My average risks are: (not all of them are listed)
- Obesity
- Lupus
- Colorectal Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Bipolar Disorder
- Gallstones
- Lung cancer
- Arthritis
Other things I found out, are that I have a decreased risk of: (not all of them are listed)
- Alzheimer’s
- Celiac (thank goodness, I love bread..)
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Melanoma
- Psoriasis
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Stomach Cancer
The best news are the genes being absent for Carrier Statuses for things like: (not all of them are listed)
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Sickle Cell Anemia
- Bloom’s Syndrome
IS IT WORTH IT?
Overall, I think it’s well worth it, especially for me.
For $99, you can learn more about yourself that you didn’t know before.
Sure it sounds like a lot of money, but I feel a lot better knowing the above information rather than not knowing it.
Now I can watch out for Parkinson’s in my parents to make sure that they get treated if they need to be, and that makes me happier.
