deCODE Complete
Analyzes risk factors for more than fifty common diseases and several traits, including all of those for which deCODEhealth offers individual disease tests. deCODE Complete focuses on medical conditions that can either be better prevented through altered lifestyle or that have better treatment outcomes if detected early. It is the most comprehensive genetic scan available for evaluating risk of common diseases. It is not generally reimbursable.
Diseases and conditions covered by the deCODE Complete Scan:
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, ABO Blood Types, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Alcohol Flush Reaction, Alzheimer’s Disease, Asthma, Atrial Fibrillation, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Bitter Taste Perception, Bladder Cancer, Brain Aneurysm, Brain Cancer-Glioma, Breast Cancer, Celiac Disease, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Clopidogrel Response, Colorectal Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Essential Tremor, Exfoliation Glaucoma, Eye Color, Gallstones, Gout, Heart Attack, Hemochromatosis, Hypertension, Kidney Stones, Lactose Intolerance, Lung Cancer, Male Pattern Baldness, Multiple Sclerosis, Nicotine Dependence, Obesity, Ovarian Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Prostate Cancer, Psoriasis, Restless Legs Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Statin Induced Myopathy, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Testicular Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Ulcerative Colitis, Venous Thromboembolism, Warfarin Metabolism.
Heart Attack
Dr. Michael Davidson talks about genetic tests and heart attacks
Coronary heart disease begins early in life, long before symptoms appear.
Common genetic variants are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack.
Knowing your overall risk can help you make the most of your preventive efforts.
Knowing your patients’ risk of coronary heart disease is the first step towards avoiding a heart attack
Coronary heart disease can result in a heart attack
The heart is a hard-working muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. To function properly, the heart muscle needs oxygen, which is supplied by the coronary arteries wrapped around the surface of the heart. In coronary heart disease, the build-up of fat, cholesterol, and other substances collectively referred to as plaque, on the inner lining of the coronary arteries causes them to become thicker, harder, and narrower. This disease process is known as atherosclerosis. If the build-up of plaque within a coronary artery cuts off blood flow to the heart muscle, a heart attack occurs.
A heart attack damages the heart muscle
A heart attack, also called myocardial infarction (MI), is a serious event. When a coronary artery is completely blocked a portion of the heart muscle is deprived of a necessary supply of oxygenated blood, which can cause serious damage in a matter of minutes. Depending on how much of the heart muscle is damaged, heart function can be anywhere from mildly to severely impaired. Severe heart attacks, accompanied by extensive damage to the heart muscle, can result in heart failure and even death.
deCODEhealth can calculate your patients’ genetic risk of heart attack
The deCODE Complete Scan identifies validated MI risk variants and uses them to provide a personalized interpretation of the associated genetic risk for having a heart attack. The number of variants included in the deCODE Complete Scan for each ethnic group are listed in the table below.
| Number of Variants Measured | |
|---|---|
| European ancestry | 16 |
| East Asian ancestry | 3 |
At present, the necessary scientific information to interpret the genetic risk for individuals of other ethnicities is not available. This information will be added as soon as it becomes available and we are assured of its quality.
Preventing a heart attack starts with assessing your patients’ risk
The American Heart Association recommends that heart attack prevention should begin by age 20 and emphasizes that prevention starts with assessing your patients’ risk factors and working to keep their overall risk low.
Genetic risk is part of the overall risk of heart attack
Several studies have found evidence of a genetic contribution to coronary heart disease and heart attack. Knowing your patients’ genetic risk of heart attack can help you assess their overall risk, which is the first step in planning their preventive and heart-healthy lifestyle. Remember, that studies have shown that their lifestyle is their best defense against coronary heart disease and heart attack.
Please note that the deCODE Complete Scan does not identify rare gene variants linked to the inherited forms of coronary heart disease which greatly increase the risk of heart attack.
This content was last reviewed on February 20, 2012.