By Robert Lehman, M.D.
I wanted to let all the veteran members know of a long-term research program you can get involved with. This is called All of Us, which involves a number of Medical Centers and universities, but for our purposes it is also partnered with the VA. The goal is to develop a database of information on 1 million people that then can be anonymously accessed by researchers trying to correlate all sorts of genetic and other medical conditions. Your medical information will go into the database, but not your name or any identifying data.
The basic foundation of this is determining your DNA genome. Whether your DNA might signal an increased (or decreased) risk of some current or future condition is unknown; that is the reason for the database. I just heard of this program at a Legion meeting last week, completed the online registration, and had my blood drawn on the 26th, so I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of how long the results take to be sent out or even what those results will look like. But it seems like an easy way to learn about my DNA for free. Actually, it is even better than free as they give you a $25 gift card to your choice of Amazon or a few others.
To learn more, you can go to veterans.joinallofus.org. You can then do the multiple modules to register into the program, including playing some “games” that check your reflexes, etc. Or, after just registering a little bit, you can complete the rest of the process when seen at the VA hospital on Columbia. Whether you do the full online registration or just partial, you can contact them directly at 206 277-1210 to complete the process. I should warn you that it took me maybe 30 minutes to do all the online registrations modules, but it would take a lot longer if you waited to do it at the VA itself. There is a last option after completing the online registration, and that is to have a sputum test sent to you to submit instead of going down for a blood draw. I went for the blood as I knew it would give more information, but still the sputum is an option if you don’t have transportation down to the VA.
If you don’t have access to the online information, just call them at 206 277-1210 and they can answer your questions as well as send more information out to you if you wish.
