23andMe Results In!

     It only took 19 days for my 23andMe DNA test results to start coming in. So far, I have Health and Maternal Ancestry results and am waiting for my Relative Finder and Ancestry Painting results to populate. Here's a breakdown of my results so far:

Maternal Ancestry:
     This test confirmed Family Tree DNA Haplogroup results: U5a1b1. According to 23andMe, U5 is one of the oldest European haplogroups. Here's a map of where this haplogroup shows up:

My Health:
     Drug Response: Based on my genes, I might react to drugs differently. According to my results, I'm slower to metabolize caffeine, more sensitive to Warfarin (blood thinner), and... other boring stuff that doesn't seem too important right now.

     Carrier Status: Some diseases and medical conditions are determined based on genetics. If you have a certain gene, you have the condition. Looking at my results, I'm not a carrier of any "variant" that they test for.

     Disease Risk: This is the scary report that predicts what diseases I'm at risk for, based on genetics. It's important to note that these results are not the same as going to the doctor and taking a test. These are all probabilities.
     There are some good results: Based on my genes, I have a decreased risk of breast cancer, Crohn's Disease, Celiac Disease, Heart Attack and Melanoma.
     I have an typical risk of obesity, lung cancer, parkinson's, and kidney disease.
     At the scary end, I do have an elevated risk of a few diseases: Alcohol Dependence, Type 2 Diabetes (27.7% vs 20.7%), Alzheimer's (14.1% vs. 7.1%), Rheumatoid Arthritis (11.6% vs 4.2%) and Restless Leg Syndrome (5.2% vs 4.2%).
  
     Traits: Based on my genes, 23andMe accurately predicted that I have blue eyes and a bad sense of smell. I'm not lactose intolerant. Apparently if I smoked, I'd be more likely to smoke heavily. I'm predisposed to eat more sweats. I have a higher than average pain sensitivity and I have typical odds of living at age 100.

     These test results are pretty neat, but they're not really why I took the test. I'm looking forward to the Relative Finder test results, which are just like Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test. I'm also looking forward to the Ancestry Painting results, which is the same as Family Tree DNA's Population Finder. I'm looking forward to mom's Ancestry Painting as well - will we see any of the rumored Native American heritage?