Would YOU take a dementia test?

What we know about this crippling condition is changing. We investigate...dement

- JENNY STALLARD

DNA testing once seemed more akin to a futuristic spy film than our everyday lives, but there are now countless companies that allow you to find out everything from your heritage to your life expectancy via a kit that goes in the post. And along with your heritage, one of the things that these tests can now do is scan for certain genetic markers that could be linked to late-onset Alzheimer’s.

The most widely available kit that offers testing for DNA related to the disease is called 23andme, and while testing for these genetic markers isn’t super-new (it’s available on the NHS), doing a postal test with results via email seems like a clever concept. But is it?

If you have or have had a relative who has suffered with dementia you will know the devastating long-term nature of the disease. And you may well have worried if that will be in your future, too. That could have led to you doing a home test, like Sara Davenport, author of the book Reboot Your Brain (reboothealth.co.uk). Sara’s father had Alzheimer’s. However, she decided not to open the results.