Find your limits – before your body does.
How much stress can my body actually handle without affecting my health?
Genetics of Calmness: Reveal how your DNA controls your stress response.
What does my DNA have to do with my resistance to stress?
Dopamine is largely responsible for the fine coordination of our stress resistance. Recent studies show that changes in certain genes have a modulating effect on the body's stress response. The scientists were able to attribute a corresponding effect to the genes COMT and MTHFR , which influence the dopamine circuit.
Your genetic variants ultimately influence whether you are quickly overwhelmed in stressful situations and physically overreact, or whether you keep a cool head and can deal with the situation with focus.
With our self-test you can be sure how your body reacts in stressful situations and how this affects your long-term well-being.
Catechol-O-methyltransferase
COMT
The enzyme COMT plays a key role in the breakdown of dopamine and norepinephrine, thereby regulating dopamine metabolism and neurotransmission in the brain. Genetic variations can influence the activity of this enzyme, affecting performance under stress. Rapid processing of dopamine can result in a milder stress response, while slower processing can result in an increased stress response. High concentrations of dopamine are associated with certain diseases, and the COMT enzyme is also involved in the metabolism of certain medications. In addition, COMT gene variants can influence the response to psychotropic medications.
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase
MTHFR
The enzyme MTHFR plays an important role in methionine metabolism and contributes to the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. Methionine is involved in the formation of creatine , adrenaline and essential amino acids in various metabolic steps. However, specific mutations in the MTHFR gene give rise to a thermolabile variant of the enzyme with limited functionality, resulting in less methionine production and excessive homocysteine accumulation in the body (hypercysteinemia). In addition, the synthesis of other essential intermediate products that are required for the activities of other enzymes does not occur. For example, since a certain form of methionine is involved in the activities of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), reduced MTHFR activity leads to a restriction of COMT activity. MTHFR therefore has a regulating effect on the COMT pathway.
Stress genetics decoded: Experience the precision of qPCR in the comfort zone of your home.
How is the evaluation done?
The test kit you ordered contains everything you need for your self-test. Taking a sample is completely painless and uncomplicated, as only a cheek swab is required. You then send the sample back to us in the enclosed envelope. Your sample will then be evaluated in our certified laboratory. You will then receive your result within 5 days.
The evaluation itself is carried out using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). qPCR is a fast and extremely sensitive method in DNA analysis that allows the analysis process to be monitored in real time.
With qPCR, a specific section of DNA is isolated and multiplied. In order to find out which variant of the gene to be examined you have, one or more dyes are added during the multiplication, which dissolve again when the sample is heated. The fluorescence, i.e. the reflected light, of the attached dye is measured in real time during the heating process and provides information about which variant you have.