Genetics/Genomics
Genetic Testing in Ann Arbor, MI
In today’s day and age it’s becoming more and more difficult to make sense of all the viable health suggestions found on the internet.
What diet is best for me? Ketogenic? Paleo? Vegetarian?
Am I better off focusing on yoga, cardio, or strength training?
What illnesses do I need to be concerned about as I get older?
While there are many credible resources, it is overwhelming to decide what is best for YOU unless you know who you are genetically.
This is where next-level genetic and genomic testing comes into play for our patients. With ever-increasing access to cutting-edge genetic/genomic tests, some of which are capable of examining ALL 22,000 genes linked to nearly every conceivable illness, why wouldn’t everyone want this information?
For over a decade, Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center has been on the forefront of such ‘precision’ and ‘genetic’ approaches to complex health problems and preventive diagnostics. Every day our clinic assists patients with individualized strategies regarding diet, exercise, therapies, lifestyle, nutritional supplements, prevention, and anti-aging based on genetic testing, and cross-references this information to medical and nutritional diagnostic tests.
With genetic testing, your doctors at Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center do a series of laboratory tests to analyze your genes. Genetic testing is a highly effective tool for identifying potential health issues. It's also helpful for determining the appropriate course of treatment for illnesses, or for checking how your body is processing treatment. There are more than 2000 different genetic tests available today.
Genetic Testing FAQs
What type of genetic testing is available?
At Natural Balance Wellness, we offer several types of genetic testing including preventive genomic panels that examine thousands of genes for disease susceptibility, pharmacogenomic testing to determine how your body metabolizes medications, nutrigenomic testing to identify optimal diet and supplement strategies, and methylation/detoxification pathway analysis to understand how efficiently your body processes toxins.
Why should I get genetic testing?
Genetic testing provides a blueprint of your unique biological makeup, allowing your healthcare team to create truly personalized prevention and wellness strategies. Rather than following generic health advice, genetic testing reveals your specific predispositions, enabling proactive steps to mitigate risks before conditions develop. It can also explain why certain treatments or diets work for some people but not others.
What will my preventive genetic results show?
Your preventive genetic results will reveal susceptibilities to various health conditions, your body's ability to metabolize certain nutrients and medications, detoxification capacity, inflammation tendencies, cardiovascular risk factors, and neurotransmitter processing efficiency. This information is cross-referenced with your medical history and lab work to create a comprehensive, individualized wellness plan.
Why is this important?
Understanding your genetic profile is important because it shifts healthcare from a reactive model to a proactive one. Instead of waiting for symptoms to appear, genetic insights allow you and your medical team to implement targeted prevention strategies — the right diet, exercise, supplements, and lifestyle modifications — based on your unique genetic makeup. This precision approach can significantly improve long-term health outcomes.
What are nutrigenomics?
Nutrigenomics is the study of how your genes interact with the nutrients you consume. It examines how genetic variations affect your body's ability to absorb, metabolize, and utilize specific vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients. By understanding your nutrigenomic profile, your practitioner can recommend the optimal diet composition, specific foods to emphasize or avoid, and targeted supplementation tailored to your genetic needs.
Preventive Genetics Program Details
At Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, our team can perform custom genetic testing to help you recognize potential health issues before they have the chance to develop.
This program is designed to create an individualized preventive wellness plan tailored specifically to your genetic susceptibilities and other lab findings. We work with you to create a plan that is achievable and maintainable based on your specific needs. As part of the process, we will educate you on how to best implement your plan.
New Patient Phone Consultation (20 min)
In-person History & Physical Exam (60 min)
What to Expect after the Initial Visit
Follow-Up Appointments
Discharge Appointments
Understanding Our Clinic Policies
Billing Process
We Are Here to Help You! Contact Us for our Custom Genetic Testing Program
On behalf of the Natural Balance team, we hope you have found this information helpful and we look forward to working with you.
If you’d like to learn more about genetic testing, use our online booking to schedule your new patient appointment or call (734) 929-2696 to arrange your visit to Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center today.
What Type Of Genetic Testing Is Available?
The general categories of genetic testing include:
- Diagnostic: Can determine what's making you sick
- Predictive: Can identify gene mutations like MTHFR that contribute to altered methylation systems
- Carrier: Determines if you have the genetic tendency for a condition, even though you may not have it yet
We offer a cutting-edge technology using whole exome sequencing which examines all 22,000 genes in the body. The exome is the expressed part of your genetic blueprint, or DNA.
This technology will detect point mutations (where a single nucleotide is inserted, deleted, or changed) as well as structural variations in the DNA; prioritize them for risk based on scientific algorithms; and link these findings to easy-to-navigate software that details the research on each pertinent mutation. What’s more, this software program is updated monthly with any new research, genetic discoveries, or findings that pertain to your genetics.
In stark contrast, other genetic tests available such as Ancestry or 23 and Me only examine select genes and their single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNPs are just ONE type of mutation where there is a variation at a single nucleotide position. Thus the Preventive Genetic testing we offer allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic cards one holds around the game-table of life. We also study SNPs to determine methylation, MTHFR, detox pathways, etc. However, we do so in a more comprehensive way to leave no stone unturned.
Your Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center team is there to support you through all aspects of the testing, so that you'll have the best possible understanding of your body and what changes are needed to promote wellness.
Why Should I Get Genetic Testing?
Genetic testing can give you peace of mind. Not knowing whether you have certain genetic mutations is always worse than knowing. If you carry a mutation, you can take proactive measures right now to protect your health.
In some cases, the results of your genetic testing may be something to share with other members of your family, since you share DNA and, therefore, susceptibility to certain metabolic issues or diseases.
Overall, genetic testing is an excellent way to get information that will allow you to take control of your health and your life. With your doctor's support, it can be an incredibly useful tool.
What Will My Preventive Genetic Results Show?
You will get a list of diseases in order of high-to-low risk susceptibilities. With each susceptibility, you will get valuable resource notes such as allele frequency and evidence-based articles related to each disease condition, along with appropriate diet and exercise recommendations.
Your genome will be compared to the rest of the population with susceptibilities and protections listed against common diseases such as various cancers, coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, and eye issues.
You will also get a carrier status for your genome. These are recessive traits for certain diseases that you carry but are not likely to express. This information is helpful as these traits may present in your children and allow you to take preventive steps for their health, as well.
Why Is This Important?
The cost of health care has escalated tremendously over the past couple of decades. And while life expectancy has risen, standard medical interventions are not adding much in the way of quality to life.
If you learn where your genetic weaknesses are, you can create a personalized plan for YOUR longevity and health maintenance. Risk factors identified in your genetic mutations can help you take proactive steps towards preventing diseases such as dementia, diabetes, and hypertension, just to name a few.
The important thing to remember is that your genes are not your destiny. The cutting-edge field of epigenetics is proving the ability of a gene to turn on or off is dependent on a multitude of factors including nutrition, lifestyle, mindset, diet, environment, and social relationships.
We want to also teach you that specific proactive steps can be taken to avoid disease and prevent your specific higher-risk susceptibilities from expressing fully or even partially
What Are Nutrigenomics?
Nutrigenomics studies how your genes and nutrients interact, and more specifically, how nutrients and other compounds in food can affect the expression of genes that regulate important metabolic activities in the body.
Through nutrigenomics, you can optimize your nutrition according to your specific genotype in order to promote health, which is at the heart of the Precision Medicine approach at Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center.
In order to obtain your sample, nutrigenomics testing at the center uses Q-tip cell collection, which is a cheek swab, blood spot, or saliva sample. It typically takes about seven weeks to get back the report with your test results.
The software we use to translate a variety of genomics tests, including 23andMe, Ancestry, and many others, focuses on identifying molecular-level weaknesses in an individual’s genome.
Nutrigenomics has also been described as the influence of genetic variation on nutrients by correlating single nucleotide polymorphisms (or SNPs), for example MTHFR, with a nutrient’s (i.e. folic acid) absorption, metabolism, or biological effects. Therefore, nutrigenomics aims to optimize nutrition with respect to an individual’s genetic weaknesses.
For our clinic’s purposes, SNPs cross-referenced to medical testing of blood, urine, saliva, etc. is the heart of our Precision Medicine approach, which attracts patients from all over the country to our clinic.
Genetic testing can alert you to gene mutations like MTHFR, which can play a role in chronic pain conditions, pulmonary problems, mood disorders, and many other serious conditions. Below is an example of Cytochrome P450 (phase 1 liver detoxification), where -/- means no abnormal gene, +/- means an abnormal copy inherited from mother OR father, +/+ means an abnormal copy inherited from mother AND father.
MTHFR Support, Cytochrome P450-Phase 1 Liver Detoxification (Saliva)
A full report is typically 80+ pages and provides information for thousands of critical metabolic steps related to everything from methylation-histamine to neurochemistry-hormone balance, and the list goes on extensively.
To learn more, please watch Dr. Boggess video on Precision Medicine.