Genetic Testing For Nutritional Supplementation - The New Wave Of False Hope?

Controversy exist in the health and nutritional world over the use of genetic testing to determine the role of personalized supplementation for optimal health and wellness.

Dr. J. Alexander Bralley, of MetaMetrix Clinical Laboratory, states: The genetic tests are good for revealing a person's tendencies for various needs. But they don't tell you how effective the intervention is or whether the tendency is expressing itself and to what degree. The other problem is that there are hundreds of different genes which could influence a particular health parameter and just a few are being measured. Other genetic influences have not even been discovered yet.

So, for example, they have an antioxidant test and they find you have this tendency and they recommend more anti-oxidants, fine. How much do you take? How do you know you are effectively making up for your defect? Are there other issues which would increase the need for anti-oxidants?

You don't know the answer to any of these unless you actually measure your oxidant stress level with, for instance, a lipid peroxide (LP) test. The LP level not only tells you that you need more antioxidants, but will help you titrate the proper amount for optimal protection. This is the basic difference. You need to know in real time what your needs are and that can best be done with nutritional and metabolic testing. Genetic tests simply are not complete enough to encompass all the issues which might affect a particular function."

This was the basic problem that the Scientific Team ran into years ago when initially evaluating the use of genetic testing. Just because you have a gene, it does not mean that the gene will ever be (called expression). Therefore, as Dr. Bralley says, you need to measure function in order to determine what is actually happening to you right now.

Functional testing lets you know how your environment, lifestyle, AND genetics are combining to affect the physical and biochemical function of your body TODAY, allowing you to see the effects of any actions you take. Additionally, there is a real danger that (at this stage of development in genetic testing) these tests can be misleading, providing a false sense of security if you don't show a risk for a certain genetic predisposition and causing undue worry if you do. There are just too many unknown factors at this stage of genetic research to link a genetic predisposition to the definite risk of disease. Most of the disorders currently evaluated by these consumer genetic tests are far more heavily influenced by environmental and lifestyle factors than by genes.

And, if you examine many of the recommendations made after these genetic test results are evaluated, you will see that they are usually the same common sense recommendations that are made to the general population to promote good health.

The Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), Dr. Francis Collins, has expressed concern over the premature marketing of in-home genetic testing. Several years ago, a meeting was held at the Institute specifically to discuss the Direct-to-Consumer marketing of genetic testing. Some
of the NHGRI's concerns (excerpted from the summary of the meeting found on the website) include:
- Lack of validated tests
- Lack of consensus on methods for validating genetic tests
- Little data regarding harms or benefits of tests
- Broad range of intended use for tests
- Misinformation in public sector about genetic testing
- Existing oversight is technology drive not public-health oriented (emphasis added)

In addition, concern was expressed for the consumer regarding:
- Consumer confusion
- False hope
- False anxiety
- Missed opportunities to pursue other health interventions

In the NHGRI 2005 Budget paper (also on the website), this statement is made, So far, researchers have found that many direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements exaggerate the scientific basis of the claims made and/or fail to effectively communicate the limitations of the specific genetic knowledge discussed. Finally, Dr. Collins is quoted by the Associated Press as stating, "Genetic testing offers enormous promise," Collins said. "But the majority of claims that are made on those Web sites aren't scientifically sound."

There is promise in genetic testing, but it is just too early to use this testing in the way it is currently being promoted in the consumer marketplace.