Sharing Your 23andMe Health Report

After your 23andMe reports comes back, you might have questions about what to do next. When the question around a DNA result revolves around genetics and your health, that’s where a healthcare provider fits in.

23andMe reports can provide you with powerful information about health predispositions, pharmacogenetics, wellness, and more. Let’s talk about the path to taking your 23andMe report to a healthcare provider if one or more of your reports indicate you are at increased risk.

Take the first step

You have you 23andMe report, now what? We have created many ways for you to learn, explore and understand your reports on your own. Start with exploring the 23andMe Genetics Learning Hub, visit our YouTube channel for learning videos, follow the guided education provided by your report’s tutorial section, and search through information and answers to FAQs that 23andMe’s Customer Care team has compiled like this guidance on navigating and understanding a health predisposition report.

Each 23andMe report is unique and includes additional sources to guide you to answers. Some reports specifically lay out the next steps for you. Familiarize yourself with your 23andMe report and all it contains. That’s often the best place to start.

Schedule a visit with a healthcare provider

Next, use that guidance to schedule a visit to your healthcare provider, like a doctor, nurse practitioner, or genetic counselor.

Genetic information fits into care and treatment differently, depending on the area of medicine. So when you decided to take a 23andMe report to a healthcare provider, make sure the report information you wish to talk about matches the area of expertise of your healthcare provider.

Here’s one example: If you have genetic variants identified on your MUTHY-Associated Polyposis Genetic Health Risk report, seeking out someone trained in colon cancer is more appropriate than a specialist who works in a different area of medicine.

Prepare for questions from your healthcare provider

Your visit is scheduled and it’s time to prepare. Remember to print out or save to your mobile device any of your 23andMe reports that you have questions about and bring them to your appointment, or send them to the provider at the time you schedule. They will likely want to understand your desires and goals for the visit, and more information ahead of time helps everyone prepare.

Genetic variants often run in families, meaning the sequence of DNA letters is passed from parent to child. Lifestyle and environment also are often shared factors for relatives who live and grow up together and can influence health risks. So you might expect questions about your family’s health history and your own health to come up during the visit. Healthcare providers with genetics training know to look at a DNA test result in the context of a family history. 

23andMe health predisposition reports include both reports that meet FDA requirements for genetic health risks and reports which are based on 23andMe research and have not been reviewed by the FDA. The test uses qualitative genotyping to detect select clinically relevant variants in the genomic DNA of adults from saliva for the purpose of reporting and interpreting genetic health risks.

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