Home » What are the benefits of this test for my family and me?
This test may identify genetic causes of a health problem, or show increased disease risk in yourself or your family members. This may help doctors recommend treatment or monitoring. Some examples of possible benefits:
- Results might show a genetic cause of very high cholesterol; your provider may prescribe cholesterol-lowering medicine that decreases your chance of an early heart attack or stroke.
- Results might show a risk of heart and liver damage due to abnormal iron storage in tissues; your provider can help you lower your iron intake and reduce the dangerous iron in your body.
- Results might show an increased risk for cancers at an early age; your providers can plan for early detection and more successful treatment and suggest other treatment options that lower the risk.
- If a meaningful health risk is identified, testing will be available for family members who may also have inherited the genetic risk, so that they can also benefit.
- The results may be helpful in making decisions about your own and your family’s health, and they may empower you to take steps to lower your chances of developing a serious disease or passing it on.
- You may use this information to help make informed choices about your future family. This test can detect if you are a “carrier” of certain genetic conditions that could affect your children. The risk to your children depends on whether your partner is also a carrier of the same genetic condition. The test does not identify all carriers, but a negative test lowers the chances that you are a carrier of any of the tested conditions.
- You may also learn of decreased risks for some genetic disorders in yourself and your children.