Gene testing lab

[Lucy]

Hi all,

The other day when I took my mother to see the superspecialist at one of the country's Centers of Excellence for Parkinsons and Movement Disorders, I asked the neurologist about genetic testing. He first of all told me that when it happens in an older person, the children's chances are about the same as in the general population. Then, he said that some other lab (I forget the name) would do the many genes associated with PD, but that he didn't think it would be helpful. He said if we wanted to do an online one, that we wouldn't need to pay the full price due to a grant of some kind that covers all but $25 of the ordinary fee for the same tests of about $400. Sounded like a deal to me! However, he said that it didn't cover all the many genes that are now associated with the condition as the more expensive lab would do.

Turns out, they have a novel concept and a plan for developing large data bases (as in the thousands of people) in order to do some research, most of which must be genetic. One of the conditions I saw listed was celiac disease, but there are a bunch of them.

However, I did find the site very confusing, partly because I'm not very up to date of the full usage of computers, and partly because it's just confusing.
I had a hard time locating where to sign up for the 25 dollar thingie.

Turns out, the PD research is in cooperation with the MJFox organization, for one, and it is funded by a co-founder of Google whose Mom happened to have PD. I think I'm going to have to e-mail their helpline to figure how to get Mom enrolled. They also have an online community in which I found some particularly interesting articles, particularly about Parkinsons Plus which my mother happens to have (she may have others as well.) I'm not sure how much I accept about some of the authors someone posted about there, but there was alot about autonomic disorders which my mother has.

Anyway, if you can figure out the best way to utilize that site, then please let me know. The name to Google for it is "23 and Me."

Have fun!
Luce