When it comes to health, people often say, “Genetics is destiny.” In other words, you were born pre-wired for the condition of your health today. Is that true? Well – yes and no.

When I was a lad in medicine, the great debate was over “Nature vs. Nurture.”  We were taught the prevailing wisdom that there were aspects of our lives that were determined by our genetic code and others that were a function of our environment.  The debate concerned which factors fell into which category.  Based on the medical knowledge we have today, it turns out that much of the intellectual and emotional energy of that debate was wasted.  Now we know that a great deal of what we call “our genetic predisposition” is dramatically influenced by our environment. In other words, Nature is significantly affected by Nurture.

Of course, this doesn’t mean your genes actually change.  They were fixed when the egg and sperm provided by your parents first came together and you started to grow.  The error we made in the Nature vs. Nurture debate was in oversimplifying what our genetic code actually consisted of.  It turns out that a great number of our genes actually seem to operate like on/off switches.  Those switches can be flipped off or on depending on our environment, behavior, and even our emotional state – that is, depending on the choices we make.

We have now identified genetic patterns that indicate whether a patient is at risk of developing a variety of diseases.  Let me give you an important example.  There is a genetic marker called EPO4 that indicates that a patient has a greatly increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease before age 60.  But not everyone with this genetic marker will get Alzheimer’s disease at any age.  It turns out that people who have this genetic trait can literally “switch” the EPO4 genetic trait on or off depending on their behavior.  If you over-eat, refuse to exercise, continue to smoke, drink too much alcohol, or allow yourself to become a Type II diabetic, you will switch this genetic marker into its active phase in many cases and multiply your risk of contracting early-onset dementia.  On the other hand, if you adopt patterns of healthy living – drink plenty of antioxidant-rich green tea, stay lean, exercise regularly, avoid excess alcohol, and use supplements that decrease inflammation and have potent antioxidant effects – your risk of becoming an Alzheimer’s victim – no matter what your genetic markers say – is extremely low.  Since the great majority of Americans maintain a consistently and stubbornly unhealthy lifestyle, those with the EPO4 genetic marker will tend to have a very high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease before age 60.  But for those few wise men and women who recognize their risk and modify their behavior appropriately, their risk of Alzheimer’s disease can be dramatically decreased, by as much as 80% compared with those with less wisdom.

The same process appears to be true for Type II diabetes, most cancers, many forms of heart disease, and the most common type of stroke.  There are genetic patterns that predispose people to greater risk of all of these conditions – but whether or not those genetic switches flip on or off can be determined to a large degree by diet, lifestyle, and proper use of dietary supplements.  Yes, we’ve all heard of those lucky people whose genetic patterns are such that they can lead horrible lifestyles, eat in the most self-destructive manner conceivable, drink too much, smoke like chimneys, and yet manage to avoid virtually all of the expected consequences.  These lucky souls seem to have won the genetic lottery.  And, sadly, there are a few people on the other end of the genetic spectrum who seem to do everything right but are doomed by their genetic patterns to a life of chronic health problems. We don’t always know why some men and women seem prone to catastrophic health conditions like cancer, heart disease, depression, or dementia.

But I have good news – and better news. For the vast majority of us who fall somewhere between these two genetic extremes, our diet, lifestyle, and use of supplements can have a dramatic impact on how well we live, how long we live, and most importantly, how joyously we live. The better news is this: those genetic switches can be moved back into their healthy positions even relatively late in life.  People with atherosclerotic heart disease, diabetes, and even early dementia can often turn their diseases around to a remarkable degree by changing the way they live, the foods they eat, and the supplements and medications they take.  At Longevity Medical Clinic this is our forte!  While a very large percentage of our patients have made some bad choices and are now reaping some negative consequences from those choices, it’s not too late. One of the most important things we do is to help our patients change their lives in such a way as to “flip those switches” back into the safe position.  Not only do we reduce further damage, but we can also help restore the kind of vibrant, joyful life that some of our patients feared they would never experience again.

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