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23andme - beginners guide?

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Avena

Senior Member
Messages
138
I've tried to read up on the 23andme tests, but I'm really confused... Is there a "beginners guide" anywhere?

I'm in Europe, but it seems like I need to order from US as neither the UK nor EU site ship to my Country. I will be purchasing the tests as a private/person, without a doctor on board.
 
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Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
Avena said:
I've tried to read up on the 23andme tests, but I'm really confused... Is there a "beginners guide" anywhere?

I'm in Europe, but it seems like I need to order from US as neither the UK nor EU site ship to my Country. I will be purchasing the tests as a private/person, without a doctor on board.
Click to expand...

My impression is that the beginners guide is that there is no evidence that genetic testing provides any information relevant to ME but the company is very keen to take your money. That may be why you are confused - nobody really knows what to make of the results. I guess the question is what you hope it will tell you?
 
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Avena

Senior Member
Messages
138
Jonathan Edwards: thank you for the warning. I must admit that I am generally curious of anything "new"...

Also, I've been bedridden for a decade and easy things like a regular cancer screening simply cost me too much (symptom increase/setbacks) to be prioritized. I would never let the gene test be a replacement for other check ups... But in my situation, if I get an indication there is a great danger that I have inherrited illnesses in my family or not, it might help me decide how important it is to risk my ME getting worse over regular check ups...

@Gondwanaland did you use DHL to ship it back to your friend? How long can the sample be in transit before it gets too old? One does still get the health data (without interpretion) in the US $99 test? What is then the next step? Where do I feed my data for interpretion? What does this cost?
 
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Gondwanaland

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,094
Avena said:
did you use DHL to ship it back to your friend?
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No. Regular airmail thru my local postal service declared as gift/perfume -- I actually sent along a bottle of perfume as a gift to my friend for the whole oredeal.
Avena said:
How long can the sample be in transit before it gets too old?
Click to expand...
I don't think this is an issue since after you spit in the tube you pour a preserving fluid (it comes attached to the tube) over it and shake well.
Avena said:
One does still get the health data (without interpretion) in the US $99 test?
Click to expand...
Yes, some hundreds of thousends of SNPs.
Avena said:
What is then the next step? Where do I feed my data for interpretion? What does this cost?
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http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/free-tools-for-analysis.33462/
I personally run it thru Genetic Genie (free), Promethease ($5) and Sterling's MTHFRSupport ($25)
 
A

Avena

Senior Member
Messages
138
Gondwanaland said:
No. Regular airmail thru my local postal service declared as gift/perfume -- I actually sent along a bottle of perfume as a gift to my friend for the whole oredeal.

I don't think this is an issue since after you spit in the tube you pour a preserving fluid (it comes attached to the tube) over it and shake well.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Did you explore an option of shipping the sample to them directly before deciding to ship it back to your friend?

It should really not matter to them where it came from, should it? I sent them an question, but the answer was vague: "We are unable to recommend or endorse ways to send your sample from a country outside of where your original order was shipped." (I did not ask for shipping options, just a yes/no to whether or not they would accept the sample).
 
Gondwanaland

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,094
Actually their policy is not to accept a sample from a different country the kit was sent to due to legal reasons.
 
A

Avena

Senior Member
Messages
138
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V

Valentijn

Senior Member
Messages
15,786
Avena said:
There is only one thing holding me back now:. I'm worried about security. I don't feel comfortable spreading such sensitive/personal info around at random companies... :(

If only 23andme still could have done the analyzing themselves...
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I have a small downloadable program at http://sourceforge.net/projects/analyzemygenes/ which pulls out some of your rarest results when you run it on your computer. It's not specifically aimed at methylation, but it does ensure privacy at least, since you're not sending your 23andMe data to another site.
 
caledonia

caledonia

Senior Member
Messages
4,610
Location
Where the land is hilly and they eat hot chili
Avena said:
There is only one thing holding me back now:. I'm worried about security. I don't feel comfortable spreading such sensitive/personal info around at random companies... :(

If only 23andme still could have done the analyzing themselves...
Click to expand...

Genetic Genie was set up by a member of this forum (Kday). He only asks for a donation to help with his supplements.

I also believe Sterling Hill is a good egg, and is helping people with the best intentions.

Once you have the methylation SNPs pulled out, click on the link in my signature for more info on interpretation and a lot more.
 
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Avena

Senior Member
Messages
138
@caledonia Thank you - really reassuring info.

I had a quick look at your link. What a great job you have done! It will become very useful.

I think I might have come to a solution where I get the test shipped to/from a Country that still allows 23andme to hand out the analyzed result.
 
A

Avena

Senior Member
Messages
138
I have received my results and am trying to read up on Methylation. I must admit that it requires more concentration than I have at the moment...

Does one still get a list of suggested supplements at https://knowyourgenetics.com? I think that would have been a good start in my case.
 
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