Could my DNA results reveal surprising ancestry connections?

[Janus]

Starting off 3 weeks ago today:
I was at home, and noticed a new "floater" in my left eye. It was unusual as it was black, and then seemed to dissipate.
Then a bit later, it was like someone had drawn a scribbled doodle with black ink in my field of vision. It also dissipated, but left my vision cloudy in that eye.

I called the eye clinic, and they said they'd leave a message to have a nurse call me back.
3 hrs pass, and no call back. We decided to just go in person on the hope they could fit me in.
After talking to a nurse, they were able to set me up with a optometrist to check out my eye, and the Dr. determined that I had a tear in my retina.

She went out to grab a ophthalmologist, but it being late in the day by now, they had all left. She was however able to phone the one that was on-call, and he agreed to come in that evening. After going out to grab a quick bite, we returned, and met up with him. A short exam and a ten minute laser eye surgery later, I was good to go.

I had a follow up appointment early last week, and everything looks good. It will be a while before all the junk in my my eye completely clears out, but I have already seen significant improvement.

Then, a bit over a week ago, my wife and I got back my DNA test results. I was not really expecting to learn anything new, but my wife was hoping she might.
Her results came back, to her disappointment, with no surprises.
Mine however:
While for the most part was pretty much what I expected, predominately Finnish and some Scandinavian( for clarity, Finns are not Scandinavian) , and was even able to pin down regions within Finland from which I know my Grandparents were from, there was one unusual result:
2% Inuit!

That seemed so way off base that I initially assumed it was noise.

But then after some reflection, I began to reconsider. For one, I thought I remembered a migration map that showed a group branching off from the main group that went on to become the Inuit. This branch kind of looped back towards the Nordic countries. In addition, there is a indigenous population in the Northern parts of Finland, Sweden, and Norway, the Sámi. After a bit of research concerning similarities between the Inuit and Sámi, the answer I got was "biologically indistinguishable".

On top of that, my Dad's father was born ~80 miles South of the Arctic circle and very near traditionally Sámi lands (Lapland to English speakers, but Sámpi to the Sámi)

So, it is not unreasonable to think that the 2% Inuit result was actually detecting Sámi in my DNA

 

[berkeman]

Glad your eye is okay!

 

[JT Smith]

I had a follow up appointment early last week, and everything looks good. It will be a while before all the junk in my my eye completely clears out, but I have already seen significant improvement.

My understanding, which could be the result in misinformation, is that it's usually an age thing. The "floaters" proliferate and don't actually go away. Rather, the brain learns to ignore them. Just like your blind spot. The bigger problem is if you also start seeing flashes of light. That can be benign but in some cases is a precursor to retinal detachment. That's something that needs relatively immediate attention. So if you see the flashes go get a checkup. Otherwise expect the floaters to "disappear" -- even if they actually don't.

 

[berkeman]

My understanding, which could be the result in misinformation, is that it's usually an age thing. The "floaters" proliferate and don't actually go away. Rather, the brain learns to ignore them. Just like your blind spot. The bigger problem is if you also start seeing flashes of light. That can be benign but in some cases is a precursor to retinal detachment. That's something that needs relatively immediate attention. So if you see the flashes go get a checkup. Otherwise expect the floaters to "disappear" -- even if they actually don't.

A sudden increase in the number of floaters or other strange visual effects (like flashes of light) are definitely an indication that it's time to see your optometrist/ophthalmologist asap. Especially if it's preceded by some physically traumatic event (hitting your head, a finger poke in the eye in basketball, etc.). Don't ask me how I know this...

 

[Janus]

My understanding, which could be the result in misinformation, is that it's usually an age thing. The "floaters" proliferate and don't actually go away. Rather, the brain learns to ignore them. Just like your blind spot. The bigger problem is if you also start seeing flashes of light. That can be benign but in some cases is a precursor to retinal detachment. That's something that needs relatively immediate attention. So if you see the flashes go get a checkup. Otherwise expect the floaters to "disappear" -- even if they actually don't.

In this case, the "floaters" are blood from a hemorrhage. they dissipated as it diffused in the vitreous humor. This is also what led to the cloudiness. Right now, they are the most noticeable in the morning after I get up as small black dots in my vision. This is due to the blood clumping overnight. After I start moving around, the movement breaks them up again. They are becoming fewer in number every day, as the blood clears out at about 1% per day. This is different than the normal type of floater.

 

[Janus]

Glad your eye is okay!

Thanks. As I noted in the other post, the residual blood is slowly clearing out.

 

[Janus]

Follow up. Had my regular eye exam today. It been long enough that that except for a few tiny dots when I first get up in the AM, all the junk in my left eye has cleared out. Exam went well, other than a slight change in my close up vision prescription. The repair on the tear still looks good, and overall eye health is good.

On the other front, I just came on some new information that bolsters my suspicions of having Sámi in my ancestry. I saw a video which went over the DNA breakdown of a Sámi individual, using the same test I took.
It had one of his genetic groups (Koillismaa) as being the same as one of mine, and also gave a result of 7% Inuit. This seems to confirm the Sámi-Inuit connection and explains my 2% result.

In addition, in another video there was a photo of a Sámi girl who bore a striking resemblance to my sister in her facial features.
Maybe not evidence on a "smoking gun" level, but at least a whiff of spent gunpowder.

 

[JT Smith]

Follow up. Had my regular eye exam today. It been long enough that that except for a few tiny dots when I first get up in the AM, all the junk in my left eye has cleared out.

The last time I had my eyes checked the optometrist mentioned that one of my eyes "looked like a snow globe" from all of the floaters. But I only see one or two in certain lighting conditions.

 

[Janus]

The last time I had my eyes checked the optometrist mentioned that one of my eyes "looked like a snow globe" from all of the floaters. But I only see one or two in certain lighting conditions.

The tiny specks are leftover blood that hasn't fully cleared out yet. Earlier on, If I looked at a white wall after getting up in the morning it was like looking at a negative image of a starry sky.
I still do have one odd floater that is vertical in my left eye. I don't really notice it unless I look left to right or right to left, then it shifts from one side of my field of vision to the other, opposite to the direction I shift my eyes in. The Dr. saw it in there, and said eventually the brain should learn to ignore it.