Both clinically rare and of complex inheritance. Test is considered poorly correlated with risk for development of DM, and recommendations are to not use the test for breed-wide breeding strategies, even where there is some evidence of the presence of DM in the breed. While the SOD 1 variant may be commonly found across many breeds, there are few clinical cases observed and confirmed, and in many cases DM has never been observed in the breeds.

The mutation associated with EIC has been identified in a number of breeds - particularly hunting/working breeds. As the EIC phenotype requires an environmental stimulus in most cases, it should be noted that dogs could be genetically affected for EIC without displaying the condition. It may be valuable to breeders of those breeds where the mutation has been detected to use a genetic test, where breed-specific research is ongoing.