A few months ago I applied for the 23andme report on DNA analysis. I received a test tube at home, filled it with my saliva, sent the sample and after a few weeks received an email which informed me that the data were ready. I went to the 23andme website with a mix of curiosity and apprehension to see my characteristics and the risks on a medical level.

In the health and traits and the various medical research reports I have confirmation concerning my health. In my DNA there are some genes which lead to a high probability of ankylosing spondilitis, which I’ve had since I was 16 years. This is an autoimmune disease which causes inflammation in the joints and, which sometimes can become invalidating. Curiously, while some of the research gave me a high probability of contracting it, another gives me only a minor probability. Perhaps this could explain the fact that the typical degeneration of the disease has stopped at a non-advanced stage, even if it is always a source of inconvenience. It could be that the genes get activated and deactivated due to circumstances which are not clear.

It is typical of this problem to have phases of activation and remissions even lasting for a long time, where medical science doesn’t know the reasons for it. Since I never took synthetic medicine at a systemic level for my problem, I can suppose that natural medicines and awareness practices had their role in the improving of symptoms, even more so since I had an important remission after having relived some traumas of the past in the form of inner awareness. But those are hypotheses.

Among other things 23andme tells me that I have a tendency toward obesity. This needs at least “more studies.” I have always been thin, all my life. I have a bit more weight now, at the age of 47, but being 1.75 cm (5′ 10″) tall and weighing 62 kg (136 lb), I remain fundamentally slim and fit, with a fast metabolism and hardly accumulate fat.