I started my new year by ordering a DNA test which I talked about in a previous post. The results are in so I thought I’d informally recap some of what I found out.

• My DNA came back as 94% European although they give you different estimates. I’m just going with the standard. Of that most was considered Northern European – British, German, Scandinavian etc, but much of it was nonspecific. This fits in fairly well with my research showing Swiss/German Mennonite heritage on my Mom’s side. My father’s was always hard to research.
• The Other 6%  indicated 1% largely unclassified, but with some Native American leaning so there is that small amount of Native blood there.
• The other 5% came back as Sub-Saharan African. I actually wasn’t that surprised by this. I always wondered if the claims of Native American blood had more to do with relatives who wanted to hide any African origins. It is hard to know what that 5% means. It could be a relative such as a great-grandfather or great-great who was of African ancestry or it could be a mixing from a variety of places. I wonder if others in my family did this if we would find out more.

The results also discussed any potential health risks. Nothing in here was all that surprising either:

• Elevated risk for DVT, Macular Degeneration, Type 1 Diabetes and Glaucoma. I’ve seen those in other family members. It did mention increased risk for chronic kidney disease and restless legs syndrome. Those are more of a surprise.
• Thankfully I’m at a lower risk for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and most cancers.
• There were some interesting notations under traits like eye color, hair curl, and indications that my genetics to play in to difficulty with losing weight despite exercise and diet as well as hunger levels (higher). I don’t want to use that as an excuse, but it does give me a bit of comfort. I’ll keep working at it though.

If anyone decides to do this themselves let me know as I’d love to compare notes. You can connect with other people and compare your genetic results. I’m also putting up (slowly) my family tree. I think it would be really interesting if someone from my father’s biological family showed up (since he did not know who his biological father was). I’m going to continue playing with it, and I’d be happy to answer any questions regarding the process.’

Some people wonder about sharing these results. Could it effect your insurance rates? Could it effect how people treat you? I think so much information is already available out there anyway. Each of these items is just a possibility. We are who we make ourselves.