Recent Blog Articles
Drug recalls are common
Easy ways to shop for healthful, cost-conscious foods
Prostate cancer in transgender women
Why eat lower on the seafood chain?
Can long COVID affect the gut?
When replenishing fluids, does milk beat water?
Safe, joyful movement for people of all weights
Slowing down racing thoughts
Are women turning to cannabis for menopause symptom relief?
3 ways to create community and counter loneliness
Medical Tests & Procedures
Should you try a home genetic test kit?
A direct-to-consumer test can uncover risks for developing some diseases. But will it help you improve your health?
Image: © pe-art/Thinkstock
What if you could take a test at home to predict your risk of getting certain diseases, like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's? It's a question you may face now that the FDA has given the green light to third-party direct-to-consumer (DTC) test kits that look for genetic risk information.
"Increasingly, people want to explore their own medical data," says Dr. Robert Green, a Harvard Medical School professor and geneticist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, who studies the medical, behavioral, and economic outcomes associated with genomic medicine (for more about his work, visit www.genomes2people.org).
To continue reading this article, you must log in.
Subscribe to Harvard Health Online for immediate access to health news and information from Harvard Medical School.
- Research health conditions
- Check your symptoms
- Prepare for a doctor's visit or test
- Find the best treatments and procedures for you
- Explore options for better nutrition and exercise
I'd like to receive access to Harvard Health Online for only $4.99 a month.
Sign Me UpAlready a member? Login ».
Disclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
Free Healthbeat Signup
Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!
