If you’ve received your Navigenics genetic test results, it may be time for “the talk.”
Time to have a candid conversation with your physician about your DNA and what you can do to improve the future direction of your health.
This summer, I blogged about some of the barriers patients might face in sitting down with a physician to go over the results. Fear of discrimination and too-short appointments are foremost on some people’s list.
Yet your doctor can be your greatest ally in your quest to make informed decisions about your health.
And, as one of our satisfied customers relates, having that conversation can be one of the most important steps you can take along the path toward optimal wellness.
In Patrick’s case, it meant early detection and early treatment of a health condition that might otherwise have gone undetected for some time.
“With my Navigenics results in hand, I recently went to my personal physician for my annual checkup. My results were generally positive except for one thing: They showed an exceptional proclivity to a condition called macular degeneration. It afflicts your eyesight, but typically remains unpronounced – and undetected – until late in life,” he said.
As a Baby Boomer in his mid-50s, Patrick had reason to be concerned.
“That my own eyes could become victim to it was no surprise. My grandmother suffered from it. My maternal uncle, now in his 80s, suffers from it, too.”
His physician referred him to a specialist, but the conversation did not go well at first.
“When I went to the ophthalmologist and explained my background and test results, she politely expressed her skepticism with an almost dismissive remark. ‘Well, you know, we seldom ever see its onset in someone your age,’” he recalls. “Nevertheless, she started looking for the condition. Guess what? She found three tiny spots – the very beginnings of the condition.”
As you can see from his story, Patrick did several things right.
• He came prepared, sharing his genetic test results and his personal health concerns.
• He knew his family history.
• He got his doctor to take him seriously.
His efforts have paid off for him.
“While there remains no cure for macular degeneration, some research suggests that a regimen of certain vitamins can help delay its advance. I know that now. It’s not something I would have without the empowering results my genetic test provided me with,” he says. “Plus, it’s on my clinic’s radar. I’ll be monitoring. My doctors will be monitoring. So if a cure or a treatment is found, we can intercede far earlier than we ever would have.”
What a difference one conversation can make.