I think I might do it but not sure I'll get this part of the test. All it would do would add anxiety for something I have zero control over nor prevent. Its not like cholesterol or something and I don't want to know I have a strong chance to get Alzheimers in a few decades. I'd sleep better being naive.
I had a friend when I was younger who had a girlfriend he dated on and off since HS. At some point she had a daughter that her parents just claimed as their daughter too. He never said but the assumption was it was his since they had never really dated anyone else. I don't think his GF, now wife, ever knew that I knew. it always made it awkward when his girlfriend and "her little sister" would come over so they could all go out to a movie or something. I also don't think they ever had the idea to tell her that her big sister was actually her mom, her big sister's husband was probably her dad, and that the kids they have had since are her brothers/sisters and not her nephews/nieces I should send them a 23 and me family pack
I know an adopted girl and she has absolutely zero desire to find out her real family, would be mad if someone tried to tell her. I feel like I'd want to know but idk I guess it's different depending on the situation
Me and my wife both did it for this reason to know if we were carriers for anything serious before having another child. You should absolutely do it, it's worth it for knowing if you are a carrier for anything, and two you will find relatives. Absolutely worth it for both of those reasons imo.
I believe they can't test for every variant that can possibly lead to the disease/syndrome/whatever, but they test for all that they can. So the results are definitely accurate...for what they can test for. Edit: here's the disclaimer For me, I just really wanted to see the Alzheimer's trait because we have a significant family history. And here's what it says on the trait's page: Spoiler had, you have one copy of the ε4 variant we tested. People with this variant have a slightly increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Lifestyle, environment, and other factors can also affect your risk. 1 variant detected in the APOE gene How To Use This Test This test does not diagnose Alzheimer's disease or any other health conditions. Please talk to a healthcare professional if this condition runs in your family, you think you might have this condition, or you have any concerns about your results. Review the Genetic Health Risk tutorial See Scientific Details See Frequently Asked Questions Intended Uses Tests for the ε4 variant in the APOE gene associated with an increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Limitations Does not include all possible variants or genes associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Does not include any variants or genes linked to early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Does not determine a person's full APOE genotype. Important Ethnicities The ε4 variant included in this test is found and has been studied in many ethnicities. Detailed risk estimates have been studied the most in people of European descent. You may have a slightly increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease based on your genetic result. However, most people with this result do not develop late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Consider discussing your risk with a healthcare professional, especially if you have a family history or other risk factors for this condition. We detected one copy of the ε4 variant in the APOE gene. See Scientific Details Although your risk may be slightly increased, most people with this variant do not develop late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Studies estimate that an average man of European descent with this variant has a 4-7% chance of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease by age 75 and a 20-23% chance by age 85. There is not enough data to estimate the chances in men of other ethnicities. See Scientific Details Non-genetic factors may also influence your risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Even though nothing has been proven to prevent Alzheimer's disease, some studies suggest that eating a healthy diet and staying physically and mentally active is linked to a reduced risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Research is ongoing to understand what causes Alzheimer's disease and to find effective treatments. See Resources for more information. Lifestyle and other factors can also influence the chances of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Consult with a healthcare professional before making any major lifestyle changes. Age The risk of developing Alzheimer's disease increases greatly as a person ages. This condition is most often diagnosed in people over the age of 65. See Scientific Details for more information Age Sex Family history Heart health Diet Intellectual activity About Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease When it develops Late-onset Alzheimer's disease develops after 65 years of age. Typical signs and symptoms Memory loss that worsens over time Mood and personality changes Trouble planning or solving problems Confusion with place or time Difficulty performing daily life activities How common is the condition? Late-onset Alzheimer's disease affects people of all ethnicities. One in nine Americans age 65 and older is affected by Alzheimer's disease. Elderly African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to develop the condition than people of other ethnicities. How it's treated There is currently no known prevention or cure for Alzheimer's disease. Medication may be used to delay or ease symptoms.
Lot of new research is showing that Alzheimer's is possibly preventable through behavioral adjustment.
Meaning you are certainly genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's, but the new research suggests that it still arises because of mental degradation as we age. There's a significant correlation between the disease and things broadly viewed under old age as a repetitive, uneventful lifestyle; I.e. Living in rest homes, retiring too early, doing the same mundane tasks every day, not challenging your brain. It was described to me as thinking of your brain like a record player, but the needle gets stuck so it just keeps going around and around without anyone around to change the disc. As our synapses and neural pathways degrade, failing to fire them (through new experiences/problem solving) only accelerates their death and inability to operate for memory purposes. The new research suggests doing puzzles, making new friends, volunteering, not retiring at 65, etc leads to a substantial decrease in likelihood or at least prolonging it until very old age. There's a chance it became so shockingly prevalent because of statutory and social expectations of retiring around the same age you'd die, but life expectancy is far beyond that now.
I actually ordered the kit when this thread was active and sent in my spit results a little under 2 weeks ago. I did not do the medical part for reasons listed above but I do look forward to actually knowing my genealogy since its been a complete myself my entire life. Will update back in a month or whenever I get the results.
Had a similar story in my family. Uncle was in the Air Force. Knocked up a Canadian. Baby was given up for adoption. She searched for her biological parents. Apparently much better paperwork situation as it listed the mother. Long story short, I have a Canadian cousin.
I'm gonna be honest man. I cried like a baby. Seeing a picture didn't do justice to how similar my dad and this man are. It's like looking at my father. He's been here 3 days. We like each other. He's very successful but down to earth. Laid back. We've cracked some beers, talked and it's good. He petitioned to get his original birth certificate and it says we have the same mom and dad. Dad insists he knew nothing about this and I believe him. The reason we came back as half brothers, is that he had 6 out of 23 markers that couldn't be read. My dad has agreed to a DNA test. Thank you for asking. I appreciate it.
Tmb, besides Joe, is sorry for your loss. So how would you describe your Dad's reactions? Shocked? Upset?
Upset, shocked, baffled. Stunned. But not emotional. Reactionary, but not emotional. My dad is 74 and he's in the hospital recovering from surgery.
Is this your story: http://jacksonville.com/news/florid...-trove-information-ponte-vedra-beach-resident
this is pretty wild. have you ever heard what went down that day? was your dad at the hospital even though they were already divorced? or did mom just go & then tell dad that afterward?
Ive been a TMB lurker/reader for a while. This is the first time I've ever had something to contribute. I do genealogy and know a good bit about the results you get from DNA tests. The results will show a number of other test takers you are matched to and your likely degree of relationship. You may get a lot of matches, since we all have 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 gggrandparents and so on-how many matches you get depends on how many people related to you do the test. My father has, as of right now, nearly 1700 4th cousins or closer, and that number grows as more people do their DNA. And that's just from his results on the Ancestry DNA test-presumably there would be many more if he tested with the other major companies, 23 and Me, for example. I like Ancestry's test since many people have trees on Ancestry.com and you frequently can browse the trees and try to figure out how you're related to a match. There is one site everyone can enter their results from any company to find matches, but only a small percentage of people do. Your results may not mean much if you don't have a family history to connect to. I've heard from a good many adoptee matches, asking for help. Most I can't do much for, but for two people, I've been able to tell them which family line they belong to. I hope you luck out and find what you are looking for. You may want to do the Ancestry DNA test, too-Ancestry aggressively promotes their product and they have a much larger database than all the others (combined, I think). On the other hand, you have to subscribe to Ancestry to fully access all the information available, which sucks. Forgive the too-long post. If I can be of any help understanding the results, I'm happy to do it.
So my MIL is convinced that my FIL knocked up her cousin right after they got married. Her cousin never said who the dad was and gave up the baby. Knowing his patterns, this wouldn't surprise me. If true, it means that my wife has a half-sibling somewhere who would be almost exactly the same age as her. Despite this, she has shown zero curiosity. I think she rests easier thinking her newly-wed dad (who have been divorced for a while now) didn't go cheat on her mom almost immediately.
Mmhmm. In particular, and I think I said this a couple months back, if not here then on another thread, professions that require a whole lot of critical thinking and execution show a much much lower onset of Alzheimers. There are a couple tests you can do with the help of a flow cytometer that are about 70% accurate for a positive reading and 100% accurate for a negative reading for determining if one has Alzheimers simply by taking some particular immune cells and seeing if they eat plaque. There's a lab in Israel whose name I forget but is very prestigious that has shown in mouse models how to get your immune cells to straight up destroy those characteristic plaques and help restore cognitive ability
It's a very simple story of your brain being a muscle like any other muscle/organ, it seems Maybe we shouldn basically incarcerate old people in "rest" homes for the last twenty years of their life, but what do I know
I really don't understand why we don't put dementia-riddled folks down. Old people homes are so sad and the people that are completely out of it are obviously in a terrible state of pain and confusion.
american culture in a broad sense has really awful views on death and dying one of the most poisonous is treating people being treated for cancer with a "warrior" or "fighter" mentality
Good thread bump. Forgot to report back. I'm French! And German. And Scandinavian. And British. I'm basically 90% northwestern European. I'll admit the reports (especially if you don't do medical) are a little underwhelming in my opinion. But at least now I can solve the 3 decade old question of what my heritage is. I didn't find any close relatives or 2nd cousins but I have a number of 3rd/4th cousins mostly in TX, CA and WA.I did briefly look at Adopted.com back at the time of this thread but never signed up and havent done much on the topic since.
I ordered the DNA test from ancestry.com and sent it in several weeks ago. Based on their email updates I should be getting my results back in a week or two.
Just sent mine into 23&me today. My pops definitely whored around a bit so a surprise wouldn't be a complete surprise. That said, I'm mostly interested in the health aspects as my granny had pretty bad dementia at the end.