What Is Genetic Testing?
Gone are the days of waiting to develop a disease. Genomics (the study of DNA sequencing) is offering new possibilities for diagnosing, treating and even preventing diseases. With currently available genomic testing, it is possible to know what diseases you are at risk for. With this knowledge, lifestyle changes and even early treatment can be initiated to prevent diseases. A growing understanding of human genetics holds the promise to dramatically change health care through customized preventative care and treatments.
What is The Difference Between Genetic Testing & Genomic Testing
First, it is important to understand the difference between genetic testing and genomic testing. The word genetics refers to the study of individual genes and their role in disease or inheritance. Genomics refers to an individual’s entire genetic make-up. Genomic testing is used to the study of all of a person’s genes, including interactions of those genes with each other and with the environment. Genomics can provide a better understanding of how genes, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors can impact disease. Certain environmental or behavioral factors play a role in whether a disease develop; for instance, diet, exercise stress levels, and proximity to pollutants or toxins.
What Can Genomic Testing Be Used For?
Currently, genomic testing can be used to determine risk of developing cancer, heart disease, asthma, diabetes and certain inherited diseases. This type of testing can be used to improve or maintain health and wellness as well. Targeted nutrition and exercise, as well as drug response to specific medications, can be determined via genomics. Importantly, genomic testing can indicate treatments likely to cause adverse effects, and can also indicate what treatments may be most effective.
Genomic testing can also act as a catalyst for behavioral change. Clinical studies have shown that individuals who follow a genetically appropriate diet lose weight more easily. The genomic testing offered at SoCal BHRT tests a variety of genes that influence response to diet, metabolism, and exercise, as well as the propensity to develop certain health conditions and likely response to specific medications.
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Note: Posted on March 12, 2015 in Anti-Aging Research Science Brain and Mental PerformanceFunctional Foods
The hippocampus – the region of the brain responsible for memory, experiences structural changes that are thought to contribute to aging-related memory and mood impairments. Ashok K. Shetty, fro, the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine (Texas, USA), and colleagues employed a lab animal model to study the potential effects of resveratrol – an antioxidant that is found in the skin of red grapes, as well as in red wine, peanuts and some berries. Among rats given resveratrol, neurogenesis (the growth and development of neurons) approximately doubled (as compared to control rats); as well, the resveratrol-treated rats also had significantly improved microvasculature, indicating improved blood flow, and had a lower level of chronic inflammation in the hippocampus.
Consequently, the team observed that spatial learning and memory improved in the resveratrol-treated rats, with the ability to make new spatial memories significantly declining among control rats at 22 to 25 months. Observing that: “These results provide novel evidence that resveratrol treatment in late middle age is efficacious for improving memory and mood function in old age,” the study authors submit that: “Modulation of the hippocampus plasticity and suppression of chronic low-level inflammation appear to underlie the functional benefits mediated by resveratrol.
Kodali M, Parihar VK, Hattiangady B, Mishra V, Shuai B, Shetty AK. “Resveratrol prevents age-related memory and mood dysfunction with increased hippocampal neurogenesis and microvasculature, and reduced glial activation.” Sci Rep. 2015 Jan 28;5:8075.
A condition that commonly increases with age, small vessel disease occurs due to microangiopathy of arterioles in the brain, making these arteries less flexible, thereby potentially interfering with blood flow. As a result, loss of motor coordination, including balance, as well as cognitive impairment may occur. Yasuharu Tabara, from Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine (Japan), and colleagues assessed 841 women and 546 men, average age of 67 years, for the ability to stand on one leg (eyes open). Subjects performed this examination twice and the better of the two times was used in the study analysis. Cerebral small vessel disease – small infarctions without symptoms such as lacunar infarction and microbleeds, was evaluated using brain magnetic resonance imaging. Researchers found that the inability to balance on one leg for longer than 20 seconds was associated with cerebral small vessel disease.
As well, the team observed that 34.5% of those with more than two lacunar infarction lesions had trouble balancing; 16% of those with one lacunar infarction lesion had trouble balancing; 30% of those with more than two microbleed lesions had trouble balancing; and 15.3^ with one microbleed lesion had trouble balancing. The study authors conclude that: “Postural instability was found to be associated with early pathological changes in the brain and functional decline, even in apparently healthy subjects.”
Tabara Y, Okada Y, Ohara M, Uetani E, Kido T, Ochi N, Nagai T, Igase M, Miki T, Matsuda F, Kohara K. “Association of postural instability with asymptomatic cerebrovascular damage and cognitive decline: the Japan shimanami health promoting program study.” Stroke. 2015 Jan;46(1):16-22.
