Health Insights does not cover rare variants or genes linked to rare conditions. Instead, it looks at millions of common variants and how they affect your risk of common conditions.
Genetic testing in healthcare has mainly focused on rare conditions linked to specific variants or genes. Examples include testing for BRCA variants (present in less than 1 in 250 people) which increase the risk of breast cancer, or FH variants (present in around 1 in 290 people) which increase the risk of high LDL cholesterol.
While these variants have a big impact on an individual’s risk of developing a condition, they are rare. Genetic tests to detect them are typically offered to individuals who have a strong family history or early onset of a specific condition.
Unlike rare variant testing, Health Insights looks at the combined impact of millions of common variants. Each variant we look at only has a small impact on its own. But added together the variants can have a big impact on your likelihood of developing a condition.