Knowing the health of your genes is a healthy lifestyle

It is a common assertion that many factors affect our health; some can be controlled whereas others such as genetic makeup and age are far beyond control. As such if you take a cursory drive around town it will not be uncommon to find people going for a run, having a yoga session, attending sober/addiction meetings, or trying to get the freshest organic vegetables from the farmer’s market for dinner, all in the quest to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In fact, as many as 35% of Americans participate in at least two of these activities to maintain a good and healthy lifestyle. Have you paused for a moment to ask; what if we could also know the health of our genes and “exercise” them as we do our physical body?

What about “exercising” your genes for good health?

The health of genes can be predicted now

Humans are made up of genes which are tiny molecules invisible to the eyes that carry instructions for a person’s peculiar physical characteristic, personality trait, or talent shared in a family. Francis Collins, the former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute thought of genes and genome as “a history book - a narrative of the journey of our species through time. It's a shop manual, with an incredibly detailed blueprint for building every human cell. And it's a transformative textbook of medicine, with insights that will give health care providers immense new powers to treat, prevent and cure disease." The constituents of a gene called DNA are arranged in a specific order and format synonymous to the grammarian syntax. Any anomaly in their constituents or arrangements results in genetic abnormalities and diseases some of which include baldness, sickle cell disease, hemophilia and the rest. Scientists are pushing the boundaries of understanding of these genetic abnormalities in a discipline of research called genetic susceptibility studies. These studies measures increased likelihood or chance of developing a disease due to the presence of one or more gene mutations and/or a family history that indicates an increased risk of the disease. In 2003 the Francis Collins group finished the Human Genome Project (HGP), and for the first time in history humans knew the full constituents and number of human genes. The HGP revealed that there are about 20,500 human genes. The order of the constituents of these genes are being used as templates for comparison and identification of anomalous/susceptibility genes. By such comparisons the genetic risk of an individual to a disease can be measure quantitatively and the appropriate recommendations for care and “gene exercise” made by trained health care professionals.

How to know the health of your genes

Science has come of age and the health of the human gene can be demystified without equivocation and predictions for remedies made for living the good and healthy life despite been a carrier of a less healthy gene. Using cancers as a classical illustration, it is a fact that cancers such as breast, prostate, ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic and endometrial cancers can sometimes run in a family. These familial cases to a large extent are due to heritable abnormal/unhealthy ancestral cancer gene passed on from parents to children from several generations. It is also known that not every carrier of the abnormal cancer gene will develop cancers. However, lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcoholism, inadequate physical exercising, sleep deprivation and eating unhealthy foods have been found to exacerbate their cancer risk. Thus by knowing the health of your genes, you can work with your doctor for recommendations to prevent your cancer or delay it to a later age. Below are some common trends to look out for to make a decision to visit your doctor for cancer genetics testing.

• Early onset of cancers usually before age 50 years
• Multiple cancers types in a single individual
• The same cancer type in close relatives
• Occurrence of rare cancers, such as male breast cancer, ocular melanoma, retinoblastoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, duodenal cancer and granulosa cell tumor of the ovary
• Rare cancers associated with birth defects like Wilms tumor and genitourinary abnormalities
• Ethnic populations known to be at high risk of hereditary cancers
• BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation

 health of your genes can be easily assessed and tailored lifestyle choices recommended

Consider genetic counselling and testing

It is important to pay close attention to the cancer histories of first (siblings, parents and children) and second (grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews) degree family relation for any of the mentioned cancer trends. You may be a candidate for genetic testing if you identify with any one of them. Once a decision is made to visit your doctor, genetic testing will usually be preceded by risk assessment by a doctor, nurse, or trained genetic counselor, and then followed with genetic counseling and testing. During your risk assessment your family history will be reviewed in depth as far back as possible for cancer patterns in your family. Based on your risk your genetics counsellor will help make an informed decision about your next step (i.e genetic testing) and adaptation to the risk or condition. Counselling services may be delivered in-person, or remotely by telephone, online, and video assisted conferencing. Follow this link for more on genetic counselling. You can refuse genetic testing even if it is recommended by your counsellor. However, if you decide on testing your blood will be drawn and sent to laboratory for genetic analysis based on your risk assessment. Your doctor will work with you if you have any risk and advice you on how to prevent or in the inevitable situation delay cancer onset. In all it is vital to know your carrying of an abnormal cancer gene is not a sure guarantee for cancer onset. In case of your increased risk if detected early your doctor can advise you on some lifestyle choices (“gene exercise”) to prevent or delay its onset.