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Exploring Ancestry Testing: Pros and Cons

Is an at-home DNA test an ideal gift, really?

Introduction

Ancestry testing has become increasingly popular each year because it gets cheaper and more accurate each year. Many people want to know their heritages, where their families lived, family stories, and health risks. The most popular way of establishing all the outlined aspects currently is doing genetic testing for ancestry. You can do this testing in a medical facility or at home’s comfort. Doing this testing has an assortment of advantages and disadvantages. Here are the ancestry testing pros and cons to help you make a better decision on whether or not to purchase one.

The Cons of Genetic Testing for Ancestry

A stressed out woman
A stressed-out woman takes off her glasses

Psychological Implication

Not all ancestry testing have happy endings. Some people end up being depressed after they realize that their family lines have certain defects. You might discover that people in your family are prone to certain health conditions, significantly increasing your stress levels. This is made worse by the fact that there are few counseling opportunities, especially while doing the test on your own. Some results might require you to visit a professional counselor to get the necessary help, especially if they had some negative information.

Privacy Issues

With the increased levels of cybercrime, your genetic data might be at risk of being stolen. Even though most organizations providing platforms for these tests try their best to ensure optimum privacy, there is still the risk of being stolen by a cyber-criminal. The data can be used to commit crimes or to extort you in different ways.

Taking the Results Too Far

Some people live a care-free life once they realize they are not prone to specific health conditions. If you know that no one has been affected by heart conditions in your family line, you might start indulging excessively and leading an unhealthy lifestyle. This will increase the chances of being affected by certain health conditions. You might also start getting more stressed after starting to live careless without taking proper care of your body and mind.

The Pros of Genetic Testing for Ancestry

A couple relieved by the results of their ancestry testing
A couple relieved by the results of their ancestry testing

Reducing Health Anxiety

One of the primary benefits of genetic ancestry testing is that it can significantly reduce health concerns. You might be worried that you are prone to specific genetically transferred health conditions. Science has shown that certain conditions, such as some types of cancer, are genetically transmitted. As a result, people on a specific bloodline are more prone to being affected by such conditions.

If you do a genetic ancestry test, you can know the precise health conditions you and your family are more prone to. This will go a long way in assuring you that you are not inclined to specific health conditions. As a result, anxiety about certain health conditions will be significantly reduced.

Knowing Your Relatives

With the fast-growing world and ever-busy lifestyles, families grow apart where most people do not know all their relatives. You might have relatives whom you do not know since nobody introduced them to you. The relatives might even be living close to your home, but you do not know each other. They might also be influential people in society, but you do not know them since there has been no interaction between your families. With this kind of testing, you will know your relatives provided their data is in the existing genetic database.

Modern testing matches your data with the thousands of results in the databases to check whether they match other people’s data. Through this comparison, you can conveniently establish people with matching genetic results, and this can help you identify relatives whom you did not know existed.

A happy family looking at DNA testing results
A happy family looking at DNA testing results

Knowing the Traits Passed to You by Your Parents

Most of us do not know the specific traits that were passed to us by our parents. You might be wondering where you got your blue eyes from or why you are going bald in your twenties. Through genetic testing for ancestry, you will know exactly where you got certain features from. This is a cool thing, especially when you get to see that you have certain qualities that were passed from your parents and which you are likely to pass to your kids.

Understanding Your Body

You might be allergic to some types of foods, or you do not sleep for more than five hours, no matter how tired you were during the day. These are qualities that might be giving you a headache as you wonder how to deal with them. Some people even resort to medicine to try and change some aspects of their bodies. By doing a genetic ancestry test, you shall understand some cool stuff about your body. The test will explain many things about your body and genes, which will let you know that you are unique in different ways. By understanding your body, you can even change your diet to eat more beneficial foods.

Doing the Test Is Simple

You do not need to be a science expert to do this particular test. You do not even have to understand the testing kit details, significantly when you are being assisted by a professional to do the test. The only thing that will be required is a swab of your saliva. Even if you are a busy person who does not have much time to spare, you can get the saliva swab in seconds and take it for testing without disrupting your schedule.

Conclusion

You have likely heard of, or you have done genetic testing for ancestry. The tests are pretty simple, where almost anyone can do them without struggling. With all the pros and cons outlined in this brief, you can now make a more informed decision when deciding whether to take the test. After doing the test, you will realize some fantastic facts about you and your family, including your ancestors. But at the same time, you should be cautious because there may be some negative impacts that you might not be ready to handle. But all in all, ancestry testing is here with us, and it has become one of the trending sensations for people who would like to know about themselves and their heritages.

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