Train your metabolism as well as your brain to automatically reverse diabetes.

The Good News is that Type 2 Diabetes in your Family History still can be Prevented or Reversed! Even twins, identical at birth develop differently!

You can protect yourself and your children. There’s no need to let Family History tell the story for your children.

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What’s In Your Genes?

A gene is the basic unit of heredity. Almost all cells have exactly the same genes and almost all people have the same genes. Fewer than 1% of the total number of genes are slightly different between people.

Genes are the firmware running in every cell. They vary in size from several hundred DNA units to more than 2M. The total number of genes estimated in the Human Genome Project is 20K to 25K. Not all genes are critical to normal function. Possibly 3,000 are active.

Each gene has two copies, one from each parent. Small variations between people in DNA structure of each gene make unique physical features.

From a single cell, human structure develops into hundreds of cell types. This development process works through chemical tags which switch genes on and off. These chemical tags are the software running each cell. The specific sets of switches turned off and on determine the nature of each cell and how it functions.

All cells in the body have identical genomes. However, each cell has a unique set of epigenetic instructions. Epigenetic settings of each cell direct the expression of genes controlling cell function. This serves as a chemical memory of function in early life and causes long-term expression of gene function. The reversibility of chemical tags controlling gene expression balances the durability of chemical memory. The result is gradual change from function recorded earlier in life.

Epigenomes are unique sets of instructions running each cell. They affect gene expression, active or inactive, without changing gene structure. They are changing constantly according to physical, mental, emotional and environmental conditions. They are inherited at any particular time in whatever state each epigenome is running.

Family History

If nothing changes, a combination of Family History and Overweight/Obesity is the strongest predictor of Type 2 Diabetes.

A population sample of 3,140 men and women in Framingham, MA had a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test after an overnight fast. Those who already had Type 2 diabetes were excluded from further study. During the next 7 years, there were 160 new cases of Type 2 Diabetes diagnosed. The simple clinical prediction model of Parental History and Overweight/Obesity accounted for approximately 85% of all new cases.

The Human Genome Project opened up the opportunity to check the power of using fixed genome structure to predict Type 2 Diabetes.

A large Swedish study examined 15,000 men and women with a median follow-up period of 24.8 years. A total of 11 of the most powerful individual genes were tested to predict future development of Type 2 Diabetes. The odds ratio for each variant of gene ranged from 1.07 to 1.30. In comparison, the odds ratio was 1.67 for Family History plus more than 2.0 for Overweight/Obesity. Common genetic variants associated with diabetes had a small effect in comparison to simple clinical risk factors.

Apparently, the increased risk of Family History for Type 2 Diabetes is the result of shared environment and learned health behavior. However, the effects of epigenetic settings determining health behavior can be inherited.

Developmental Programming

Human development includes adjusting to changes in the environment.

Intrauterine conditions establish adjustments in prenatal function. These early epigenomic adjustments enhance fetal and postnatal health. They also influence physical development, physiological function and behavior throughout postnatal life.

Lifetime epigenetic adjustments continue to affect responses to environment and behavior. Apparently identical conditions create remarkably different features.

Identical twins show how epigenetic differences arise during life. Monozygotic twins share a common genotype. Although they are indistinguishable during early years of life, differences appear as they get older.

Studies of 80 pairs of identical twins have been reported from Spain. Their ages ranged from 3 to 74 years. In all pairs, there was significant difference between epigenetic function. The figures illustrate differences in typical epigenetic structure and gene expression between 3-year-old twins and twins who were 50 years old. Furthermore, differences in all pairs were greater in older pairs than in pairs of younger ages.

These data illustrate that differences in environment and behavior cause different epigenetic adjustments. As a result, even identical twins develop differences in function and different susceptibilities to disease.

Physical Activity

Type 2 Diabetes develops when excess calories overload storage capacity of glucose in skeletal muscle, liver and fat tissue. Chronic aerobic exercise promotes metabolic efficiency, oxygen utilization, contractile activity and cell growth of skeletal muscle. Muscle biopsies of healthy subjects before and after exercise interventions showed improvement in expression of gene function.

Biopsies of adipose tissue also showed improved storage of glucose and fatty acids in response to exercise training.

Neurodegenerative disease and cognition have been improved by aerobic exercise and strength training. Exercise releases substances from muscle, fat and liver that aid neurogenesis, neuron maturation and brain vascularization. These beneficial effects indicate  modulation of gene expression.

Obesity

Early-life experience is the origin of adult health and disease. Obese mothers are more likely to have obese children. Epigenetic programming during years of development is likely to cause gene expression that enhances obesity in later life.

Throughout adult life, creation of adipose tissue is controlled by epigenetic factors. The successful creation of new fat stores blunts the appearance of high levels of sugar and fatty acids in the blood. Failure to clear these substances from the circulation results in sustained high levels of insulin. The combination of high levels of sugar and fatty acids with high levels of insulin results in damage to eyes, nerves and kidneys.

Eventually, sustained high levels of insulin, sugar and fatty acids in the circulation cause heart disease, stroke, cancer and dementia.

Epigenetic Inheritance Across Generations

Inheritance of epigenetic factors deserves special attention. Chemical tags controlling gene expression ties genes which are totally inherited to the transient functions that can change during life from generation to generation.

Epigenetics from both mother and father influence their offspring. Maternal influence includes not only adult epigenetics transferred to ovum but also conditions encountered by embryo in utero. Paternal epigenetics transferred into sperm are carried into embryo for its development after birth. Good health habits creating good epigenetics for offspring are essential to a strategy for Good Family History.

We are pleased to share our blog articles with you, and we are always interested to hear from our readers. Our website address is: www.herdhealthcare.com

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