Did you ever think you’d see the day when you could take a test that would tell you your chances of developing diseases like Diabetes, Alzheimer’s or Cancer?
With genetic testing, you can check out specific concerns or you can choose an all-inclusive genetic scan that looks for risk — and possible prevention — of more than 1000 diseases.
You can test for everything from skin cancer risk to balding potential. You can also test for the best exercise program for you and which medications would work and which could cause side effects for you.
A couple considering pregnancy can, for about $500 each, have their genes tested to reveal the potential for passing on genetically inherited diseases and disorders.
Unless you are someone who prefers surprises, this is definitely helpful information!
Some genetic tests are performed on a sample of saliva, blood, hair, skin, amniotic fluid (the fluid that surrounds a fetus during pregnancy), or other tissue. Anti-Aging Medical & Laser Clinic use the saliva technique from Existence Genetics in California.
The general feeling around genetic testing is to make sure you are only asking questions you really want to hear the answers to. You need to consider how having this information could affect your life and what you will do with the information. Would your insurance company reject a future claim? Would you remove both breasts and ovaries if you were highly at risk of breast or ovarian cancer?
It is important that you have genetic counseling ahead of time and then you will need to see a healthcare specialist who can interpret the results for you. At Anti-Aging the cost for these services is $600 in total for a consultation before and after the saliva testing.
The cost of the actual testing will vary depending on how many panels you choose to do. So we’re talking ranges from $600 – $5000.
I suppose if you were to find out that a general anaesthetic could make your breathing stop, you might just consider it money well spent.
