What are direct-to-consumer genetic tests?
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) lifestyle genetic testing can help you gain vital insights into the factors that affect various areas of your health, including brain, heart, and hormone health, your weight, and even your fitness capacity. Having this knowledge can help you optimize your lifestyle and gain control of your health.
What are direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests?
If you’re reading this, you're probably not a geneticist and we get that, so let’s start at the very beginning and explore the difference between direct-to-consumer and clinical genetic testing.
Clinical genetic tests
These tests will usually get ordered by your healthcare provider to help them gain clarity on specific medical conditions or symptoms that their patient is experiencing.
The process is pretty simple, the specific test the patient needs will get ordered from a laboratory and they'll collect a DNA sample which gets sent off to the lab to get tested and analyzed. The results will then be relayed to the patient. The patient’s health insurance company may also cover the cost of testing in part or completely.
Direct-to-consumer genetic tests
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits, on the other hand, aren't necessarily ordered for a specific medical reason but instead are made readily accessible to the public by direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies.
The great thing about DTC tests is that they can give you insight into your unique health requirements, moreover, the accessibility of these tests can be a true game-changer for anyone wanting to improve the condition of their health or those curious about their genetic predisposition to certain health problems. DTC genetic tests make gaining access to vital genetic information really easy!
Types of DTC genetic tests
Here are a few examples of the various types of direct-to-consumer genetic testing:
Ancestry Tests
When most people think about genetic testing, ancestry tests are probably what springs to mind, however, tests that explore your genetic ancestry are just one area of focus.
Genetic Health Risk (GHR) Tests
Genetic health risk tests (The 3X4 Genetic Test falls under this category) help individuals discover whether or not they have any level of risk of developing particular medical conditions due to genetic results in relation to their lifestyle.. They can give vital insights that can point to beneficial lifestyle improvements, such as personalized nutrition, optimal fitness regimes, and more.
Carrier Screening Tests
These tests are used to check whether a healthy individual is a carrier of an inherited genetic variant that could be passed on to their own offspring. These are often considered more “high penetrance” genetics test and are more often requested by healthcare practitioners even though they are available to the public as well.
Pharmacogenomic Tests
Pharmacogenomic tests help you gain information on how your body may metabolize various drugs and whether or not there is any risk of adverse reactions to those drugs.
Interpreting DTC genetic test results
Analyzing the results of a genetic test can be tricky for a number of reasons. For one, the results aren't necessarily a clear clinical diagnosis, however, a positive result may point towards a heightened risk of developing an illness or disease.
On the flip side, getting a negative result doesn't always mean that the risk of ill health isn't there. When these results are analyzed, it may be helpful to note the various other influencing factors, such as environmental and medical factors, as well as family history.
Even though the 3X4 Genetics Blueprint report is very easy to use and understand, with so many factors to consider, it may be beneficial to have a practitioner who can explain the results to you. When you order The 3X4 Test + Blueprint Report, a 3X4 Practitioner can guide you along your 3X4 Blueprint and will send you a personalized health summary plan.
Take your health to the next level
We aim to help you to gain unique and powerful insights into your individual health, including your weight, blood-sugar regulation, your fitness capacity, as well as your brain, heart, and hormone health.
Invest in your health today. Try the 3X4 Genetic Test Today, it’s trusted by many practitioners and is an industry-leading, direct-to-consumer genetic test backed by 20+ years of scientific research and clinical practice.