January 13, 2025

Optimize Your Health with Polygenic Risk Scores

36 minutes

At-home DNA tests are everywhere, but what can your DNA tell you about your risk for developing serious diseases like cancer? Returning guest Dr. Joel Evans from Genetype and The Center for Functional Medicine explains how a polygenic risk score may help optimize your future.

During this episode you’ll learn about:

This week’s guest: Dr. Joel Evans, OB-GYN and functional medicine doctor [0:55]

How to use polygenic risk scores, a powerful disease prediction tool [2:45]

What are SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms)? [5:57]

Breakthrough genome-wide association studies (GWAS) [7:15]

From GWAS to PRS: Polygenic risk scores show genetic predisposition to disease [10:55]

How polygenic risk scores compare to popular DNA test kits [13:14]

Who may benefit from getting their polygenic risk score measured? [17:22]

Questions from the community

If I score high on polygenic risk for something like cancer, does that mean I will get cancer? [22:22]

How much do polygenic risk tests cost? Are they worth the cost? [26:49]

Are polygenic risk scores the same as ancestry DNA tests? [28:55]

How do polygenic risk scores work? Are they secure? Do I need to worry about privacy? [30:02]

How can I use my polygenic risk score to optimize my health? [33:21]

Resources to topics mentioned in this episode:

Learn more about Dr. Joel Evan’s work on polygenic risk scores at Genetype and The Center For Functional Medicine

Discover more ways to test your health at home with Thorne

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Products mentioned in this episode: Biological Age Health Panel, Essential Health Panel, Advanced Health Panel

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