Understand your genetic risk of Glaucoma
SightScore Family
Glaucoma
SightScoreTM Family
- $349 *
- Your future genetic risk of glaucoma, including next steps
- For all adults without symptoms of glaucoma
- Evidence based risk prediction using millions of genetic variants in your DNA
- Saliva sample collection
- Genetic counselling included
- Results within 4-6 weeks of you posting your sample
- Free shipping & sample return
SightScore Family is a glaucoma risk service ordered online by individuals who do not have any symptoms of glaucoma. This service is currently only available in Australia. US individuals may obtain access to SightScore by obtaining a referral from their optometrist or ophthalmologist.
SightScoreTM Family Testing Process
What is SightScoreTM Family?
SightScore™ Family is a genetic testing service that analyses millions of genetic variants to estimate your personal glaucoma risk.
Your result shows where you sit on the risk scale — from lower to higher genetic likelihood — helping you and your healthcare practitioner plan screening and follow-up to detect glaucoma before vision loss has occurred.
Who is the SightScore Family Service for?
Glaucoma runs in families
Family members at significantly increased risk of glaucoma, with 1 in 4 first-degree relatives affected. But different family members have very different individual risks. SightScore determines your own personal genetic risk of glaucoma.
If it doesn’t run in your family
Glaucoma can still affect you. Around 45% of people diagnosed have no known family history, and half of all cases remain undiagnosed. A genetic score provides clarity even when your family history is unknown or incomplete.
What is the benefit of SightScoreTM Family?
Understanding your risk helps you and your health provider develop a personal plan to manage your glaucoma risk:
- A low risk score can bring peace of mind and your healthcare provider may not need to see you as often.
- A high risk score can be acted on to find and treat any glaucoma sooner and act proactively to avoid loss of sight
Frequently Asked Questions
Humans share the same genetic code apart from some differences, called genetic variants, that make each of us unique. Some of these variants are known to increase the risk of developing certain health conditions, while others reduce the risk. It is possible to combine the risks from thousands or millions of these genetic variants to estimate the overall risk of a person developing a particular health condition, such as glaucoma. This overall risk is known as a polygenic risk score. In some cases, a polygenic risk score may also be linked to the potential severity of the health condition and the way it might develop over time.
SightScore Family is available to people who:
• Do not currently have glaucoma or symptoms of glaucoma
• Are adults over the age of 18
No. SightScore Family only looks at an individual’s genetic risk of developing adult-onset primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). It does not test for angle closure glaucoma. It does not test for juvenile glaucoma.
Blood relatives – e.g. parents, brothers/sisters, adult children – share parts of their genetic code and will have some of the same genetic variants, and some that are different. For conditions with a strong genetic contribution, such as glaucoma, a healthcare practitioner will take into account a person’s family history when assessing their risk.
However, a family history is not the same as a person’s individual genetic risk. It is possible to have a high genetic risk of glaucoma without a family history of the condition. It is also possible to have a family history of glaucoma and have a low individual genetic risk. This is because a family history does not mean a person has personally inherited the genetic variants that increase the risk of glaucoma.
SightScore Family is a personalised test which uses a person’s own DNA to assess their individual genetic risk of developing glaucoma. It is important to understand that SightScore Family does not replace an accurate family history. Instead, it provides useful information about whether someone is at higher or lower risk than would be expected from their family history alone.
SightScore Family does not account for: eye pressure, age, family history or environmental factors.
SightScore Family only estimates genetic risk based on a genetic saliva test. It does not take these other things into account. However, a healthcare practitioner will consider them when advising about future health care.
A small number of people will have a single ‘rare’ genetic variant associated with an increased risk of glaucoma by itself (e.g. Myocilin). SightScore Family does not test for these rare variants, and only provides an overall polygenic risk score. A healthcare practitioner may discuss referring you to a general genetics service or ordering separate testing of these variants in cases it is warranted, based on family history and other clinical considerations.
SightScore Family can not diagnose if a person has glaucoma or not. Equally, it can not guarantee whether a person will, or will not, develop glaucoma in future. It calculates a risk for glaucoma, based on your genetic makeup.
Seonix complies with the most stringent local and international privacy and security regulations. We take incredible care to use technical, process and physical safeguards to secure your personal information and protect it against misuse, loss or alteration.
We only disclose your personal information where it is necessary to provide our products and services to you or for other legitimate purposes described in our Privacy Policy.
As part of our service, you can access a 30-minute consult with our genetic counsellor to discuss your results. If needed, we can provide specialist referrals to support your ongoing care.
Order the test online and we will send a kit directly to you. Our test involves a simple saliva swab that can be done at home that takes approximately 3 minutes to complete. There are no blood tests or needles required.
Once you’ve followed the instructions included in your collection kit, you can return your sample to our accredited lab using the reply-paid envelope included in your kit.
Once you have posted your sample it typically takes 4-6 weeks for your results to become available.
Genetic testing can have an impact on some types of insurance, particularly life insurance. There is currently a moratorium on genetic tests in life insurance, which means that genetic test results cannot be used as part of an insurance application up to the value of $500,000 (for death and total permanent disability), $200,000 for trauma and $4,000 a month for income protection.
For more information, please see Centre for Genetics Education or Financial Services Council websites.
Life insurance requires assessment of the individual’s risk and may need to be disclosed.
Yes. The service is overseen by a combination of appropriately qualified and experienced healthcare professionals – ophthalmologists, a genetic pathologist and a genetic counsellor.
Contact us at sightscoregenetics@seonixbio.com. We’ll be happy to answer your questions.