Genetic Testing
Genetic testing starts with a simple saliva or cheek swab that can reveal nearly your entire genome. At Gateway Natural Medicine, we use that information — alongside blood and urine testing — to build a truly personalized picture of your health, rather than treating symptoms as they appear.
Blood work is the traditional gold standard of medicine, but it mostly shows current activity in the body: your hormone status, thyroid function, or whether you have an active infection. Genetic testing lets us see how well certain metabolic pathways work before they manifest into symptoms.
Why Genetic Testing Matters
DNA is the universal code for all of us. Strands of DNA code for the proteins and enzymes that catalyze reactions in our bodies, from detoxification to turning genes on and off. Small changes in your genetic profile — called SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms — can have a real impact on health.
Combine this information with blood and urine testing, and we can begin to see the entire picture — not just a snapshot of what's happening today.
A Real-World Example
Nitric oxide (NO) is important for vascular health, energy, and inflammation control. It's made in the body by converting the amino acid L-arginine using an enzyme called nitric oxide synthase. If someone has a SNP affecting that enzyme, the pathway may run slow or inefficiently.
Dosing that patient with high-dose L-arginine to support cardiovascular health may not deliver the expected benefit — and could add unnecessary strain elsewhere — even though the treatment looks correct on the surface. This is where genetic testing becomes powerful, and the same logic holds true across thousands of enzymatic reactions in the body.
What This Can Look Like in Practice
Consider a patient dealing with long-standing depression who has had only short-lived relief from both natural and pharmaceutical approaches. A genetic profile may show inefficiencies in how the body metabolizes neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, explaining why relief hasn't lasted.
It may also reveal variants affecting methylation — one of the most fundamental pathways in the body, involved in turning genes on and off. Some practitioners believe these variants can affect how efficiently the body uses B vitamins, which may play a role in brain fog, fatigue, or anxiety for some patients — though research in this area is still evolving. With that information, we can tailor supplementation and diet to what your genes show, rather than relying on a generic protocol.
There are also SNPs thought to correlate with other conditions, including depression, autism, Alzheimer's, and certain cancers. Knowing your genetic makeup allows for a more customized approach to wellness — and it can be a helpful additional data point for children with learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, and autism, since a saliva test is easy for young children to complete. If a child is unable to test, we can test both biological parents and make educated estimates of the child's profile.
Cancer Risk & Early Detection Testing
Beyond metabolic and functional genetic testing, we also offer traditional genetic testing for hereditary cancer risk — screening for gene mutations (such as BRCA1/BRCA2 and others) that are linked to an increased risk of breast, ovarian, colon, and other cancers. This helps identify risk before it becomes a diagnosis, so you and your care team can build a proactive screening and prevention plan.
We also offer the Galleri® test from GRAIL, a multi-cancer early detection blood test that screens for a genetic “signature” shared by more than 50 types of cancer — many of which don't have a recommended screening test today. It's a single blood draw, generally recommended for adults 50 and older or those with an elevated cancer risk, and it's a powerful complement to the screenings you already do — not a replacement for them. A positive signal is followed by diagnostic testing to confirm results.
Ready to Learn What Your Genes Say?
Schedule a consultation to talk through which genetic testing option — functional, hereditary cancer risk, or Galleri — is the right fit for you.
Call 970-532-2755Book a Free Consultation