> I believe this test is as good as buying your astrological map
Yeah, that's vastly overblown, sorry.
Let's say the average for the whole population of getting Disease X is 10% over a lifetime. You do the genetic test, and it turns out you carry an allele that's been shown with good confidence to raise that risk to 30%. What you get is not certainty, of course, but a place in a row of statistical buckets. There are studies providing solid evidence that Disease X can be typically delayed by years or decades if you do A, B, and C.
Is that information not valuable to you?
Note: I am in the general situation described above. Well, most people probably are, too, one way or another, they just don't know it.
EDIT: Perhaps you're confused because 23andme does not provide this kind of information now. But they did provide it in the past, before the FDA ban. Looks like the ban is now being gradually rescinded, one step at a time, which is good.
> There are studies providing solid evidence that Disease X can be typically delayed by years or decades if you do A, B, and C.
> Is that information not valuable to you?
It depends what A, B, or C are. If it's full mastectomy based on a misunderstanding of statistics then no, that information isn't useful and might be harmful.
Getting a double mastectomy is 90% effective in preventing breast cancer in high risk patients. Getting tested for cancer is 0% effective in preventing cancer. The best it can do is possibly increase your odds of survival.
Angelina Jolie wrote in an OP-ED about her choice to undergo a preventative double mastectomy.
Yeah, that's vastly overblown, sorry.
Let's say the average for the whole population of getting Disease X is 10% over a lifetime. You do the genetic test, and it turns out you carry an allele that's been shown with good confidence to raise that risk to 30%. What you get is not certainty, of course, but a place in a row of statistical buckets. There are studies providing solid evidence that Disease X can be typically delayed by years or decades if you do A, B, and C.
Is that information not valuable to you?
Note: I am in the general situation described above. Well, most people probably are, too, one way or another, they just don't know it.
EDIT: Perhaps you're confused because 23andme does not provide this kind of information now. But they did provide it in the past, before the FDA ban. Looks like the ban is now being gradually rescinded, one step at a time, which is good.