I am a firm believer that amidst all the fads that come and go, there is one trend that will always be popular. This, of course, is the do-it-yourself craze that your mom, your mom’s mom, and pretty much everyone else you know has participated in.

It makes sense. There is something about having the control and ability to make something out of your own two hands that leaves one feeling happy and, most of all, empowered.

A biotechnology company in New Jersey called Admera Health realized the importance of this, and (sort of) applied it to something we all really care about: our own health.

Admera Health is a company that focuses on developing detailed genetic tests for the early diagnosis and risk assessment of various cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

On July 24, 2017, Admera Health announced that it had launched three new DNA tests for healthy adults that would assess risk for conditions such as inherited high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolemia) and inherited diabetes. These three tests will be available on Helix’s online personal genomics marketplace.

President and CEO of Admera Health, Guanghui Hu, PhD, is excited about this partnership with Helix. Dr. Hu states that this new service is the first-of-its-kind and will allow anyone access to insight into their own individual genome, thus allowing them to take ownership over their own health.

Specifically, the familial hypercholesterolemia test will be available on Helix’s marketplace for $124.99.

This test will assess genes or other DNA markers that may indicate an increased risk for developing familial hypercholesterolemia, which is also a strong risk factor for developing heart disease.

The protocol for ordering one of these “at-home” tests is as follows:

1. Go to Helix.com and find the test you are interested in
2. Fill out the associated questionnaire to be looked over by an independent healthcare provider
3. With the approval of said physician, you can order and take the saliva kit
4. Mail the sample back to Helix for sequencing. Voila!

Helix will send results back to Admera for Admera to interpret and send reports back to the customers. In addition, because there is quite a learning curve to understand DNA sequencing and genetic testing, there is a lot of help offered by Helix and Admera to help customers understand and correctly interpret their results and what the implications are.

Basically, there’s a lot of cool technology in play here. All the while, you keep your control over managing and analyzing your own health, which is probably the coolest part. To learn more about this joint effort by Admera and Helix, read this from Global Newswire.

What are your thoughts about ongoing research for rare diseases? Share your thoughts, and your hopes, with the Patient Worthy community!