Posts tagged heart disease
DO OUR GENES CAUSE US TO CONTRACT CERTAIN DISEASES?
May 11th
Again and again, for quite a few years now, I have heard from people from the public, talked to doctors and heard about from T.V. how certain genes determine whether or not we will contract certain diseases or not. In fact, even in graduate school I was taught that certain findings were positive for certain diseases such as a reverse A/G ratio for Multiple Myeloma and a positive ANA test for Lupus and also genes which might show the increased likelihood of inheriting a specific disease such as the ones I just mentioned or Rheumatoid Arthritis or Diabetes or other diseases. However, these ideas are not revealed by the research.
Dr. Bruce Lipton M.D., the world reknown epigeneticist who taught medical students molecular biology for over 20 years sheds some light on this subject in his book, The Biology of Belief. This excerpt is taken directly from his book, p.40
[We now know that the environmentally influenced fine-tuning described above can be passed from generation to generation. A landmark Duke University study published in the August 1, 2003 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology found that an enriched environment can even override genetic mutation in mice. (Waterland and Jirtle, 2003). In the study, scientists looked at the effect of dietary supplements on pregnant mice with abnormal “agouti” gene. Agouti mice have yellow coats and are extremely obese, which predisposes them to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
In the experiment, one group of yellow, obese, agouti mothers received methl-group-rich supplements available in health food stores: folic acid, vitamin B12, betaine, and choline. Methyl-rich supplements were chosen because a number of studies have shown that the methyl chemical group is involved with epigenetic modifications. When methyl groups attach to a gene’s DNA, it changes the binding characteristics of regulatory chromosomal proteins. If the proteins bind too tightly to the gene, the protein sleeve cannot be removed and the gene cannot be read. Methylating DNA can silence or modify gene activity.
This time the headlines “Diet Trumps Genes” were accurate. The mothers who got the methyl-group-rich supplements produced standard, lean, brown mice, even though their offspring had the same agouti gene as their mothers. The agouti mothers who didn’t get the supplements produced yellow pups, which ate much more than the brown pups. The yellow pups wound up weighing almost twice as much as their lean, “pseudo-agouti” counterparts.
…..Though the two mice are genetically identical, they are radically different in appearance: one mouse is lean and brown and the other mouse is obese and yellow…..the obese mouse is diabetic while its genetically IDENTICAL counterpart is healthy. [this is also true] in a variety of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. In fact, only 5 percent of cancer and cardiovascular patients can attribute their disease to heredity. (Willet, 2002). While the media made a big hoopla over the discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes, they failed to emphasize that ninety-five percent of breast cancers are not due to inherited genes. The malignancies in a significant number of cancer patients are derived from environmentally induced epigenetic alterations and not defective genes. (Kling, 2003; Jones, 2001; Seppa, 2000; Balin, 1997)
…..The…evidence has become so compelling that some brave scientists are even invoking the “L” word for Jean Baptiste de Lamarck, the much scorned evolutionist, who believed that traits acquired as a result of environmental influence could be passed on. Philosopher Eva Jablonka and biologist Marion Lamb wrote in their 1995 book Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution – The Lmarchian Dimension “In recent years, molecular biology has shown that the genome is far more fluid and responseive to the environment than previously supposed. It has also shown that information can be transmitted to descendants in ways other than through the base sequence of DNA.” (Jablonka and Lamb 1995).
We’re back to where we started – the environment. In my own work in the laboratory, I saw over and over the impact a changed environment had on the cells I was studying. But it was only at the end of my research career, at Stanford, that the message fully sank in. I saw that endothelial cells, which are the blood vessel-lining cells I was studying, changed their structure and function depending on their environment. When, for example, I added inflammatory chemicals to the tissue culture, the cells rapidly became the equivalent of macrophages, the scavengers of the immune system. What was also exciting to me was that the cells transformed even when I destroyed their DNA with gamma rays. These endothelial cells were “functionally enucleated,” yet they completely changed their biological behavior in response to inflammatory agents, just as they had when their nuclei were intact. These cells were clearly showing some “intelligent” control in the absence of their genes. (Lipton, 1991)
Twenty years after my mentor Irv Konigsberg’s advice to first consider the environment when your cells are ailing, I finally got it. DNA does not control biology, and the nucleus itself is not the brain of the cell. Just like you and me, cells are shaped by where they live. In other words, it’s the environment, stupid.]
I hope that you have found this EMPOWERING and helpful. What this means is that YOU CONTROL YOUR DESTINY! YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTH! YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE! You are better than your genes. And, with the appropriate structural, chemical and emotional therapies, you can CHANGE your genes and the way in which they express themselves as well.
Healthcare Snafu: The Wise Words of Dr. Phillip Maffetone
Mar 29th
This entire article was taken from Dr. Phillip Maffetone’s website www.philmaffetone.com. Dr. Maphetone is an Applied Kinesiologist who has trained more Olympic Athletes than any other person in history that I am aware of. In the past, Dr. Maphetone was a competitive runner as well. He is the author of the book “In Fitness and In Health” as well as nummerous other publications.
Who’s Left Behind?
Apparently, there’s a new health insurance program in the U.S. I know this because of all the emails I’m getting, which I read with interest. However, I don’t read, watch or listen to the news – the media can’t report objectively on this item (like most others), and they leave out key issues.
The key issue left out of the continuing health care discussions – not only by the media but by almost all involved – is the question of who’s really left behind. This question is not addressed by making sure most people have insurance – it actually makes it worse. Just as serious a problem is who’s not left behind.
The majority of people are quite unhealthy. And, most diseases – and deaths – are preventable. Who is responsible for this dilemma? Certainly the government allows companies to make and sell products that are unhealthy, thanks to lobbyists, and both share in the responsibility. A few large corporate conglomerates make trillions of dollars selling junk food that contributes to illness and death. And retailers participate by selling these items. Effective billion-dollar advertising campaigns get consumers, including children, to consume these products. Many of these foods are cunningly disguised as being healthy. Whole Foods is an example; like most health food stores, most of the items they sell are unhealthy, often organic, junk foods.
So who’s left behind in this so-called new health insurance overhaul? The same people who were left behind before, plus all those who now will be covered by health insurance. Why? Because these and other programs further take away the individual’s responsibility for their own health.
Those who are not left behind are the few people, insured or not (many of whom are members of this website), who take serious the responsibility for their own health. While I’ve been promoting this issue my whole career, other health care professions, authors and individuals also contribute by directly and indirectly influencing others in positive ways. But these influences are insignificant compared to what government (and the lobbyists) and big business (who spend trillions of dollars) do to convince people to participate in unhealthy activities.
Who’s not really left behind? The companies who benefit most by making money from an aging, sick population. Including those who directly contribute to chronic illness – especially companies that make and sell unhealthy food products – like the cigarette companies have done for decades.
Despite new insurance regulation, three ongoing problems continue to hold up a failed health care system.
Disease Care
First, most people don’t really use health care. Instead, they rely on disease care. The current system waits for disease to appear, then uses expensive drugs and therapies to treat the disease. The fact is, most diseases are preventable – from cancer and heart disease to Alzheimer’s and all those mechanical injuries of the back, knee, hip and other areas surgically treated with artificial joints and other surgeries. Treating end-result symptoms and ignoring the causes of disease is the real epidemic.
Who Dictates Care?
More than ever, the new program will encourage millions more people to rely on others to dictate their health needs. This includes the government who has numerous programs (Medicare, Medicaid and others), insurance companies (who dictate which doctors and what therapies you can and can not have) and others, including employers who dangle insurance policies (that you pay for directly or indirectly).
In addition, lobbyists for the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies and other product and service sectors in “health” care keep making it easy to be covered by insurance, get prescriptions and buy the latest over-the-counter drugs.
I’m not opposed to drugs or surgery, or even insurance. I’m opposed to how they are used and abused. This includes using expensive, high-risk remedies as a first approach to treating common disorders that typically respond to more conservative, much less expensive but high quality care that usually comes with little or no side effects.
Am I Covered for That?
Too often, patients are willing to take a drug, have a surgical procedure or even participate in a radical experimental therapy before other more conservative and even effective options are available – because their insurance will cover it.
Here’s a common scenario. Bob goes to his doctor because of chronic knee pain. The doctor recommends surgery; after all, Bob chose his own therapy by picking a surgeon from the list of health care professionals covered by his insurance. The doctor comforts Bob with the fact that he’s covered for the procedure. Bob consults me for a second opinion, and after assessing his problem I recommend more conservative therapy for his minor problem. But his insurance won’t cover it. Bob chooses surgery at 10 to 20 times the cost, but has no out-of-pocket expense. I’ve experienced this type of scenario many times in my years of private practice.
Who’s Responsible for My Health?
Are most people willing to take care of themselves? That’s a difficult question to ask, and unfortunately, most people are not even willing to ponder the answer. Certainly, some people are not only willing but are succeeding in taking care of themselves, by eating well, exercising, controlling stress and toxins, and other features associated with being responsible for their own health. This is the real meaning of prevention (screening for disease is not).
Only when we’re taking responsibility for our own health can we truly prevent illness and disease, and develop and maintain a higher quality of life until we die.
In being responsible, we most easily avoid being trapped by insurance companies and government programs willing to cut us open when it’s not really necessary, by food giants selling us foods that slowly kill us, and force us to visit doctors we don’t necessarily want to see (while avoiding those we prefer).
Our health is in our hands, but too many have let go while grasping for the illusion of health care. The new insurance overhaul just ties their hands even more. There’s no free lunch, although the insurance environment offers one that promotes heart disease, cancer and other debilitating illness.
Buy your own lunch – choose your food wisely. That’s what I do.
