Keep Away From Disease: The Reasons Why Disease Prevention Is Necessary And Ways To Avoid Disease: Disease Preventing by Nicolas Tchikovani

Author:Nicolas Tchikovani [Tchikovani, Nicolas]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-09-07T16:00:00+00:00

Many acquired mutations develop spontaneously, but others are triggered by harmful environmental influences. That's how smoking and radiation increase the risk of cancer. External influences can also turn down active genes and turn on dormant or sluggish ones. And while most genetic research has asked how bad things happen to good genes, a few scientists are starting to ask if good lifestyle choices can actually make good things happen to genes.

In one study, European researchers randomly assigned 21 men who were scheduled for clinically indicated prostate biopsies to supplement their usual diets with four servings of either broccoli or peas per week. At the end of the 12 months, the men who ate broccoli demonstrated genetic changes that might reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

In another study, scientists from California tracked 30 men who were undergoing periodic prostate biopsies as part of active surveillance for early prostate cancer. The men made comprehensive lifestyle changes that included diet, exercise, and stress reduction. These changes produced improvements in weight, abdominal obesity, blood pressure, and blood lipids. In just three months, lifestyle changes also altered the activity of 501 genes in prostate tissue; 48 of the genes were ramped up, and 453 were turned down.

In a third experiment, researchers from Britain and the United States collaborated to study how exercise affects telomeres, repeating sequences of DNA located at the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres protect chromosomes from degradation, but as cells divide, their telomeres get shorter and shorter. Advancing age, oxidative stress, and obesity all contribute to telomere shortening; in turn, shortened telomeres have been linked to an increased risk of coronary artery disease, heart failure, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

In a study of 2,401 twins, regular exercise was associated with greater telomere length. The effect was substantial; the telomeres of the most active volunteers scored about 10 years "younger" than those from the least active subjects. The results remained valid even after the researchers took age, BMI, and smoking into account. And in the small number of identical twins who differed in their exercise habits, the exercising twins had longer telomeres than their sedentary siblings. The California study of men with prostate cancer also found that lifestyle changes protect telomeres. Perhaps, then, telomeres are one explanation for how regular exercise seems to slow the aging process.

When we come into the world, each of us has a unique genetic profile that has an important role in determining health and longevity. But if heredity deals us a hand of cards, lifestyle determines how we play those cards, and this also has a huge role in tipping the balance between health and disease. More than that, research shows that lifestyle choices can actually reshuffle the deck, for worse or for better.

How are we doing?

American health is not what it should be. Diabetes and obesity are increasing at an alarming rate, and the prevalence of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and other devastating illnesses remains stubbornly — and unacceptably — high.

America spends far more on medical care than any other nation, yet America's health lags far behind most industrial countries.

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