They recommended that, in consultation with the Australian Genetic Non-Discrimination Working Group, the Financial Services Council – the peak lobby group for life insurers – assess the consumer impact of imposing a moratorium on life insurers using this kind of information except where it was provided by the consumer to demonstrate they're not at risk of developing a disease. In April 2018, a parliamentary inquiry report which looked at the life insurance industry made a recommendation regarding the use of predictive genetic information. Risk of disease can be used against you by the life insurers in a variety of ways, from One of the biggest issues to consider before embarking on any health,įitness or diet-related DNA tests in Australia is that the results mayĪffect your ability to secure or claim life insurance.Ĭurrently if you have genetic test results, even if they were done onlineĪnd where the scientific evidence might be a bit wobbly, you must disclose Not all health professionals have the training yet – it's still so new." Will DNA testing affect your life insurance? She says that while dietitians now understand how genes are playing a role in diet and weight management, they're not geneticists, while a geneticist can interpret the results but can't guide you in what to do.
"There's no perfect medical professional to deal with it at the moment." But the other side of this is that a lot of the time with DNA, the more we dig the more complex it gets and we end up with more questions than answers."Īdamski says a major challenge is finding a health professional best suited to interpreting gene tests. " the current one-size-fits-all government recommendations may need to be tailored to each individual. While the experts we spoke to agreed that there's plenty our genes can tell us, they all agree that the findings often beget more questions than answers.Īdamski says that when it comes to DNA and nutrition, genes are important but testing doesn't necessarily provide the entire picture."In some cases genetics can play a role in guiding nutrition requirements, and going forward it may mean we have different dietary requirements based on information from our genes," she says.
"And with weight loss, it's soĭifficult to get the full picture from genetics alone, so while genes playĪ part, weight is multifactorial and other factors should also be Outcomes," says Melissa Adamski, who works in private practice as anĪccredited practising dietitian and also at Monash University'sĭepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics. "With nutrigenetic variations, theĮnvironment, such as diet, still plays a large role in overall health "Takeīreast cancer for example, genes contribute just five to ten percent. When it comes to health DNA testing, Barlow-Stewart says genes don't holdĪll the answers or responsibility when it comes to health issues. Why you can send your DNA to different companies and get different "You are beingĬompared to the data population they have, which isn't everyone. The reference DNA that they are comparing you to," she says. Science, you will get different results from different companies because of "While there's no doubt an organisation like Ancestry and others use good Important that people understand the limitations of consumer commercial DNA Results muddy the waters and can even have a negative impact on patientĪssociate professor Kristine Barlow-Stewart specialises in geneticĬounselling and genetic medicine at The University of Sydney.
"Gene tests promise the world, but deliver very little. This area is great for patients, it doesn't necessarily have to meanĭirect-to-consumer testing, and not straight off the bat." While more education and understanding in "While genetic testing can provide some information, in many cases itĭoesn't provide the full picture. Out too soon – they are commercial decisions being done by private Value, but only if it's done with a GP or a doctor who can reassure you and can point you in the right direction. "If people are doing it with the appropriate support it may have some Genetics counsellor and academic Kristine Barlow-Stewart says: