Monday, October 29, 2012

MTHFR Monday--Why should I get tested?

Last week I blogged a little bit about what MTHFR is.  This week, we're going to talk about why you may want to consider getting tested.

As I mentioned last week, MTHFR is a genetic variation. It is not a sex-linked defect, so that means that we do get one copy of the MTHFR gene from either parent.  If a blood relative in your family tree has the defect, it's possible that you have it too, depending on how it got passed down.

Many people don't realize how common the MTHFR variation is. It has been said that up to 70% of the population has at least one copy of the variation.  That's about 220,267,985 Americans.

Check out this list of medical conditions that the MTHFR variation can cause.  Pretty eye-opening! If you can identify even a few conditions on that list in your family tree, it may not be a bad idea to get tested for the MTHFR variation.

You still may be wondering why you would want to get tested for the MTHFR variation. In my opinion, it's important to get tested if you think it's a possibility, so that you can tell your kids, or your other family members about it, and so that you can start taking positive steps to counteract the negative effects of the variation. In Daniel's case, we know he has the variation that is known to cause heart issues, so we've started him on supplements to protect his circulatory system, and we've eliminated things from his diet that his body can't handle. Hopefully by taking positive steps forward early, we'll be able to hold off negative health issues further down the road.

Any questions about MTHFR so far?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the World Wide Web. Please let me know you were here by leaving me a comment! :)