Thank you
@BeautifulDay for answering my questions so thoroughly. As I said, it was a bit of a skim read of the book as I couldn't take in all the DNA subgroup details, so I no doubt missed some of the key points too. Thanks for your patience in answering.
A simple question on practicalities. How does one get tested for mito DNA groups, and is it done in the same process as nuclear DNA? Which companies are most reliable/recommended?
And a question about consequences of knowing the results of such tests - does it provide evidence that can be used to target treatments such as dietary adjustments and is there any research on this? And does it help in getting doctors to believe the illness is real?
ETA:
@Hutan, has knowing this about your family's mitoDNA helped at all?
@Trish. You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.
None of the tests are perfect.
The cheapest way to determine your maternal haplogroup is through 23andme’s ancestry test. It’s $69 right now. 23andme does not test for most of the snp’s. The positions they do test for can be seen either by downloading the raw data from 23andme or viewing it online at:
https://you.23andme.com/tools/data/
They will have tested for many of the defining variants for haplogroups, but they don’t test for most private variants. Depending upon when a person tests with 23andme will determine which positions are tested. Summary:
- 23andme is cheaper,
- provides maternal haplogroup,
- tests some mtDNA positions.
For Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and Whole Exome Sequencing (WES), I tend to go with whatever company is cheapest at the time, has good reviews, has 30x (or more) coverage for WGS or 100x (or more) coverage for WES, and provides VCF, BAM, and FASTQ files. If you use Dante Labs, be sure to ask for them to send you the flash drive with the BAM and FASTQ. Dante allows you to download the VCF. A doctor or researcher might want the BAM or FASTQ files later on (in addition to the VCF), so mine as well get it now if it doesn’t cost any more. Many of these companies provide the VCF with mtDNA aligned to the old reference genome. If you find that is the case, then be sure to follow the steps in Chapter 52 to convert the mtDNA variants from reference genome hg19 to NC_012920. I believe Dante Labs is now providing a work around for this, but I haven’t seen it yet in action. Summary:
- this is more expensive so look for sales,
- these companies usually do not provide maternal haplogroup, so you may have to figure it out on your own with some work,
- there is a lot more data to work with, and
- this can be overwhelming for those who aren’t ready to dive into their own DNA analysis.
When ordered by physicians, our health insurance has covered 100% of the cost of GeneDx for WES for several of us. Be sure to request the flash drive with the data. Chapter 52 covers my experience with GeneDX in more detail and what to expect and ask for. Summary:
- cost will depend upon your health insurance,
- if your doctor requests a certain type of test from GeneDx then haplogroup is provided,
- there is a lot more data to work with, and
- this can be overwhelming for those who aren’t ready to dive into their own DNA analysis.
With regards to your questions: "And a question about consequences of knowing the results of such tests - does it provide evidence that can be used to target treatments such as dietary adjustments and is there any research on this? And does it help in getting doctors to believe the illness is real?"
Having the results has helped us with schools and sick days. It has also helped us to be taken seriously in doctors' offices. In the past when we went in with ME/CFS, we'd get the eye roll. However, go in with ME/CFS due to mitochondrial issues and it's taken very seriously. We no longer hear that reducing our stress or getting more sleep will help us feel better. That has been a very good thing. Patient blaming should never happen. It's hard to get anywhere when doctors don't take you seriously. It has also been helpful in some (not all) of our mito cocktails being paid for by our health insurance. Before this, none of our mito cocktails were paid for by insurance.
From Chapter 8:
"We are blessed to now have excellent nurses throughout our school district. However, just a few years ago when our youngest was in kindergarten, the school nurse at her elementary school told others that our daughter was a hypochondriac coming into the nurses office one day with a limp, another day with a headache, another day with a muscle cramp in a leg, another day with severe stomach issues, and still other days with severe fatigue.
Thank goodness we know from our mitochondrial doctor that having such a broad assortment of symptoms is not unusual in patients with mitochondrial issues. The specialists at the hospital found her severe constipation was due to her colon muscles not working properly, and her mitochondrial headaches were aggravated further by a Chiari malformation in her brain. They taught her how to use crutches on days when her foot doesn’t work properly and she’s received multiple instructions on how to pace herself throughout the day to conserve energy.
When the nurse that thought our daughter was a hypochondriac and who hounded me over every sick day retired, we were blessed with a kind, thoughtful, and well educated nurse at that school. She worked with us and our doctors to provide the best school environment for our daughter under the daily changing symptoms."
As to your question specifically on "does it provide evidence that can be used to target treatments such as dietary adjustments", I would say no.