Joan: I really enjoyed your explanation. I have been esp. impressed with the health results and the relative finder since having my DNA tested with 23andme. Thanks for the added info. about Parkinson's Disease and the founder's extra interest. Suzanne ----- > I've had autosomal testing with 23andme.com and I believe they only do > autosomal testing. You can get health results AND genealogical results. As > for > the health results most genetic illnesses are partly genetic and partly > environmental--so nothing can be diagnosed...you still need to see a > doctor > for that but it can alert you if you have a gene or genes that put you at > high genetic risk for a specific ailment. > > For example, I found I'm at higher than normal risk for age related > macular > degeneration. There are diet changes you can make to help ward off macular > degeneration -- so it is helpful to know if you are at high risk. I've > also alerted my eye doctor and she checks carefully when I get my eye > exams. So far so good! > > You also learn what you are at very low risk for genetically and for me it > is great to know I only have 48% of the average risk of developing > rheumatoid arthritis. > > Although most Parkinson's disease isn't thought to be genetic for a small > group of people who inherit a specific mutation it puts them at high risk > for early onset Parkinson's disease. One of the founders of 23andme is the > wife of the co-founder of Google and he was tested when 23andme was just > beginning. He proved to carry the gene that puts him at high risk for > Parkinson's and since he learned that he's been working with the Michael > J. Fox Parkinson's group in doing more genetic testing on those with early > onset > Parkinson's -- that group is very active on 23andme. > > For results that may be upsetting to some people (like the Parkinson's > gene) 23andme gives you the option to either unlock that result or not --- > as > you choose. The BRCA 1 and 2 genes for early onset breast and ovarian > cancer > is one example where they let you choose if you wish to know if you carry > the gene. > Why not check out 23andme.com for more information about what they offer? > Joan