Gene Tests Don’t Affect Anxiety, Behavior

People who take a home gene test for multiple conditions don’t worry a lot about the results, a study suggests. Most of them also don’t get more tests or adopt healthier lifestyles, the study found. The study included about 2,000 people who wanted to take a home DNA saliva test. The test was made by Navigenics Inc. It looked for genes linked to 23 conditions. They included Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, glaucoma and lung, breast and prostate cancers. People were offered a discount for taking part in the study. Most paid less than $250. The test usually costs $2,500. Researchers kept track of them for about 6 months. On average, people were not more anxious after taking the test. This was true even if they were shown to have a higher risk of disease. People did not exercise more or eat less fat after the test.