Navigenics patient FAQs

Navigenics analyzes your genetic code for genetic variations, or markers, associated with particular health-related concerns.

The Health Conditions panel analyzes your genetic code for markers associated with common, important health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes or heart attack, and tells you how your genetic markers affect your personal risk of developing these conditions. By knowing your risks, you and your doctor can work together to reduce them.

The Medications panel analyzes your DNA for genetic markers that are known to affect how your body might process certain pharmaceutical drugs. In some cases, your genetic code can indicate whether you are likely to experience severe side effects with a particular drug, and in other cases whether the drug is likely to be effective for you. By knowing how you are likely to respond to certain medications, you and your doctor can work together to make medication choices tailored for you.

As the types of information contained in each panel are very different, Health Conditions and Medications are presented separately. If a particular medication is associated with a specific health condition, however, you'll find that connection noted in your report.

For your Health Conditions results, the boxes on the overview page show an individual’s estimated lifetime risk based on the genetic risk markers they have compared to the average lifetime risk for a person of their gender in the general population. Boxes are grouped in columns with lifetime risk depicted across the horizontal access.

For your Medications results, medications are grouped according to whether side effects or drug effectiveness are a potential concern. Your personal results are displayed alongside each medication.

Each condition is color-coded gray or orange based on a comparison of the individual’s estimated lifetime risk and the average lifetime risk. Orange indicates an overall lifetime risk greater than 25 percent (to call attention to conditions with an elevated absolute risk) or risk that is more than 20 percent above average for that particular condition (to call attention to an increased relative risk for less common conditions).

In the “Side Effects” section of your Medications results, some of your results may contain an icon showing a range of colored bars. Bars depicted only in blue and gray indicate that you have a low genetic risk of this side effect. Bars depicted in orange indicate that you have a moderate or high genetic risk of this side effect.

SNPs stand for single nucleotide polymorphisms – these are single letter changes in the DNA code that in this case have been found to be associated with certain health conditions and medication responses. Navigenics assesses your DNA code to determine whether you have a risk marker or a non-risk marker at any particular locations. You inherited your genetic markers from your parents, so at any particular location in your DNA code you may have inherited zero, one, or two copies of the risk marker. Remember, everyone carries genetic markers that show risk, but your specific combination of risk and non-risk markers is unique to you.

Navigenics provides you with access to board-certified Genetic Counselors, health professionals who can discuss your genetic analysis results and the conditions and medications sensitivities we test for. However, your Genetic Counselor will not give you specific medical advice. For medical advice, you should consult your health care provider.

We encourage our members to read the information on the website and discuss their concerns and a plan of action with their physicians. Individuals may also wish to consult a Navigenics Genetic Counselor to discuss their results.

Navigenics' services are designed to uncover conditions and medication responses for which you may be at increased risk based on your genetic risk markers, but they are not diagnostic. Based on your genetic profile, a genetic test may tell you that your chances are higher than the general population, but many factors both genetic and environmental contribute to the development of disease or a particular drug response. Knowing your genetic risk for certain health-related concerns can lead to early screening, increased awareness, personalized medication choices, and lifestyle changes that may reduce your likelihood of developing these concerns.

No, since there are many factors (both genetic and environmental) that contribute to health conditions and medication outcomes, a gray box does not mean that you are safe from developing that concern. It means that you have a lower risk based on the genetic risk markers that were assessed, but there may be other genetic factors (known or unknown) and environmental factors that could increase your risk. It is still important to learn about all your predispostions and discuss your personal and family history with your physician or genetic counselor.

If your results are low risk, this typically means that you have no increased risk based on your genetic markers.  Moderate risk means that you have some increased risk based on your genetic markers, but do not have the maximum possible risk, based on your genetic markers. High risk means that you have greatly increased risk, based on your genetic markers.

Navigenics' services inform about risks based on known, common genetic factors, but do not take into account other key information that should be considered in risk assessment like your personal or family history. Family history should be reviewed with your healthcare provider (physician or genetic counselor) to determine whether there are additional risk factors and to determine whether other genetic testing for rare mutations is indicated.

All of the conditions on the Health Conditions panel have both a genetic and environmental component. Lifestyle factors may play a significant role in the development of certain conditions, such as lung cancer, obesity, diabetes, and many others. Individuals may be able to mitigate their risks for conditions by following healthy lifestyle recommendations.

As a member of our Navigenics Health Compass service, you receive updated results for the length of your membership. As a result, we expect that your lifetime risk numbers will likely change as new SNPs are discovered and incorporated into your Navigenics results.

Your membership includes all updates regarding new SNPs, conditions, and all related information for the year. After the year, it is $199 to re-subscribe for continued updates and access to Navigenics' Genetic Counselors.

For any one SNP, relatives may share that SNP in common (a 50 percent chance for siblings and children), but that relatives’ genetic risk markers cannot be easily ascertained without performing a genomic scan, especially because most conditions have multiple SNPs. There are also non-genetic factors associated with each condition.

In some cases additional genetic tests may be indicated. Personal and family history assessment may inform whether additional genetic tests either to confirm a diagnosis or to determine the presence of a rare mutation are warranted. For example, a family history of early-onset breast cancer may warrant genetic testing for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. In a few cases, your Medications results may also reveal the need for additional testing to further pinpoint your risk of side effects.

No. Our genetic testing services assess for common genetic risk markers that are associated with breast cancer. Mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 are less common in the population and are only present in approximately five to 10 percent of families with breast and ovarian cancer.

Individuals 18 and older can be tested. Navigenics does not offer its genetic analysis services to children under age 18.

There are two key factors that determine your overall risk estimate – the effect of a genetic variant in your ancestral population and how often the variant occurs in that population.

Most genome-wide association studies (the science on which Navigenics' service is based) have only been performed on people of European ancestry. Relatively few studies have been conducted in other ancestral groups, or in mixed-ancestry individuals. These studies generally show that the effects of genetic variants included in the Navigenics genetic testing services are the same across ancestral groups. That means if you are found to have increased or decreased risk for a specific condition, that should not change based on your ancestry.

However, the overall amount of increased or decreased risk may vary based on how commonly or uncommonly the variation occurs. Our reference population is made up of a variety of individuals, with Caucasians represented in the greatest numbers, but with other ancestral groups also represented as more genetic information on a variety of ancestral populations becomes available. When we compare your risk to that of the general population, this comparison may not be based on a group that entirely matches your own ancestry.  As data on more reference populations become available, we anticipate that we will be able to compare you to a reference group that more closely resembles your own ancestry.

Also, keep in mind that some diseases and drug interactions may be more common in your ancestral group than in our reference population. For instance, prostate cancer is more common in those of African ancestry than Caucasian ancestry. For these conditions and drug interactions, your results report will include special considerations to note based on ancestry.

As a member of our Navigenics Health Compass service, you'll also receive updates over time as scientific discoveries continue to inform our understanding of how genetic variants relate to specific ancestries, and how this knowledge may, or may not, impact your genetic test results.

Yes. Navigenics has built in automated technology as well as operational practices, applying the most current technology to protect your information. We operate consistent with HIPAA practices and build them into our infrastructure. We have multiple levels of security to deter external access to personal information, and our staff comes from leading companies that have set the standards for data security in a number of industries. All customers must provide authenticating information when they call Member Service.

The new Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) as well as state laws prohibits health insurance and employers from using your genetic information. Health insurers cannot use your genetic test results to deny you health coverage or set the price you pay for health insurance. Insurers also cannot ask you or require you to take a genetic test. GINA also prohibits employers from using your genetic information to make hiring and salary decisions or set other job-related policies. Employers cannot require you to take a genetic test as part of starting or performing a job, except in very limited circumstances to protect worker safety. GINA's protections do not apply to other types of health-related insurance, such as life insurance or long-term care coverage. In addition, GINA only safeguards genetic testing and genetic information. GINA does not apply to a person who has been clinically diagnosed with a genetic disease. Other federal protections, however, may apply in that situation.