Genetic Testing for OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is more common than you may think. Around 1 in 40 people develop it at some point in their life, and it can be quite debilitating. People with OCD experience intrusive, unshakeable thoughts as well as compulsive behaviors.
But OCD is not black or white. People can have shades of OCD. A hint of OCD, so to speak. Many of us experience an element of the anxiety and obsessiveness associated with the condition, even though we may not be diagnosed.
One big potential component of OCD and the like is excess baseline dopamine in the brain. This excess baseline dopamine—to make a long story short—leads to excessive mental rigidity—an inability to easily shift from one task to another, or from one thought to another.
COMT as a cause for excess baseline dopamine and thus OCD and anxiety
What causes that excess baseline dopamine? For some people, that can be an under-functioning variant/polymorphism of the COMT gene. The COMT gene is involved in breaking down dopamine, so if it’s not functioning that well, dopamine can build up in the brain and potentially lead to mental rigidity.
How does methylation affect OCD?
How do you fix an under-functioning variant of COMT and thus potentially genetically fix your anxiety and OCD?
You work on increasing the presence of methyl donors. COMT is activated—i.e. its function is increased—by methyl donors like SAMe. So the process of fixing that under-functioning COMT is simply to address your methylation status as a whole.
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) has also been found to have strong potential benefit for people with slow COMT variants. Read more in-depth about that here.
What exactly that entails will vary from person to person—for some people it’ll mean increasing choline consumption, for others it’ll be riboflavin, and for yet others it’ll be certain minerals like potassium and magnesium and activated forms of B12 and folate. It depends on your genetics and lifestyle, and genetic testing is the first step.
Keep in mind that this is not official medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established through this article or through any other information provided on this website.
