Posts Tagged ‘genes’

Genetic expression should be the focus of any health initiative. All the pharmaceuticals have little or no bearing on disease.

Control Gene Expression           

We are in control for the most part when it comes to gene expression. This is the core issue in almost every chronic condition. Diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, and dementia are all diet related.

Lifestyle is the deciding factor in how the genes will express themselves. This is the missing piece of the puzzle when we look for the rise in all chronic conditions. Everything we do has an impact on our health. Diseases don’t come out of the blue.

Human Gene 

The human gene isn’t something that has to be studied as much as understood. It is directed by our action and expresses itself by our lead. When we realize the power we have to orchestrate their expression, we would know that studying them in their static form has little meaning.

Gene expression is forever flowing and changing. Our attention should be on our actions, and then we will find the ways to alleviate much of our suffering. There are many ways to turn on the healing power of our genes.

You have the power, and the gene is your army that will lead you to a healthy finish.

Epigenetic expression is up to you means how your genes express themselves depend on your lifestyle.

Epigenetics Good News

The relatively new field of “epigenetics” is revealing how people, plants and animals do start with a certain genetic code at conception. The choice of which genes are “expressed” or activated is strongly affected by environmental influences. The expression of genes can change quite rapidly over time, they can be influenced by external factors, those changes can be passed along to offspring and they can literally hold the key to their future health.

This kind of information is a reminder of the power we have over our health. It is bigger than the healthcare system debate. It points to the fact that the most influential decisions about our health come from us. This discovery should be met with enthusiasm by the public. There is comfort, convenience and protection if we have ownership of our health.

The question is will we be learning and cultivating our natural ability to build a gateway to health. Epigentics studies are bringing us good news, a reminder that everything that can help us is already in place.

Epigenetic Scientific Validation

According to Ron Dashwood, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon state University, epigenetics is a unifying theory in which many health problems, ranging from cancer to cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders, can be caused at least in part by altered “histone modifications,” and their effects on the reading of DNA in cells.

Histone proteins are essential for the packaging of the DNA into chromosomes within the nucleus of a cell. Histone proteins play an important role in DNA packaging, chromosome stabilization and gene expression.

“We already know some of the things people can do to help prevent cancer with certain dietary of lifestyle approaches,” Dashwood said “Now we’re hoping to more fully understand the molecular processes going on, including at the epigenetic level. This should open the door for new approaches to disease prevention or treatment through diet, as well as in complementing conventional drug therapies.”        

The OSU  scientist recently received an $8.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to explore diet, epigenetics, and cancer prevention. The positive findings of the laboratory research are already being converted to placebo-controlled human intervention trials on such health concerns as colon and prostate cancer.

Learning From This

Learning from this means revisiting what we already know. It has been shown over and over that good health is a decision. The transition to a man made diet from a whole food one has been at the heart of the healthcare crisis we are facing. This deviation from nature has taken us to the brink of self destruction.

Cultivating good eating habits means transitioning back to natural whole food diet. All the scientific terms come down to the basic fact, we are what we eat, from a health standpoint.

Children’s health in America is changing. The sustained energy that seems to last the whole day is part of childhood. We equate childhood with physical performance and vitality.

CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS

The rate of chronic health conditions among children in America has increased from 12.8% in 1994 to 26.6% in 2006, for conditions such as obesity, asthma and behavior/learning problems, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

SUGAR

A day filled with sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, maltodextin, and other odd sweeteners will change the playing field. Toxic artificial colors and sweeteners combine to take the octane out of childhood.

EPIGENETICS

The study of epigenetics tells a story. The not so good news is that there is sufficient evidence that adult lifestyle can change the health of their future children. The same bad behaviors that can shorten your life can predispose your offspring to the same health risks. This can happen before they are conceived.

DNA

Children’s health is a measure of your history. Taking extra measures to protect your health helps ensure healthy offspring. The message is loud and clear everyday choices affect future generations.

Your DNA may not be your destiny, but your health habits may be the foundation of your child’s future.

GENES

In a remote area of northern Sweden a tiny population revealed how genes work.

In a place called Norrbotten, in the 19^th century, peoples lives depended on the harvest. There were years in the 1800’s where there was total crop failure and famine. In other years in the same time period when crops were abundant and people were able to gorge themselves for months.

In the 1980’s, Dr Lars Olov Bygren, a preventive-health specialist who is at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, wondered what long term effects the feast and famine years might have had on children growing up in Norrbotten in the 19^th century. On them, on their offspring including their grandkids as well.

He took random sample of 99 individuals born in the Overkalix parish of Norrbotten in 1905 and used historical records to trace their parents and grandparents back to birth. By analyzing meticulous agricultural records, Byren and two colleagues determined how much food had been available to the parents and grandparents when they were young.

Bygren’s research showed that in Overkalix, boys who enjoyed those rare overabundant winters-kids who went from normal eating to gluttony in a single season –produced sons and grandsons who lived shorter lives. Bygren and his team controlled for certain socioeconomic variations, the difference in longevity was an astonishing 32 years. They also found significant drops in lifespan along the female line. This means the daughters and granddaughters of girls who went from a normal to a gluttonous diet also lived shorter lives.

Bygren showed that conditions in the womb affected the offspring’s health into adulthood. In 1986 Lancer published the first of two papers showing that if pregnant women ate poorly, her child would be at a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular disease

THE ANSWER

Bygren and other scientists have historical evidence that suggests powerful environmental conditions can leave an imprint on the genetic material in eggs and sperm. These genetic imprints can short-circuit evolution and pass along new traits in a single generation.

Patterns of how childhood chronic conditions have changed over time can be found in our lifestyles. The answer to obesity, asthma, behavior/learning problems, and metabolic syndrome has been found.