genetics Archives | Linden and Arc

DNA is a history book – a narrative of the journey of our species through time. A shop manual, with an incredibly detailed blueprint for building every human cell. It’s a transformative textbook of medicine, with insights. These insights give health care providers immense new powers to treat, prevent, and cure diseases.”

Genetics and Genomics

Gene study exists in 2 facets: genetics and genomics. Genetics is the study of single genes in isolation. Genomics is the study of all the genes in the genome, their interaction with each other, and with the environment. Each individual’s history book is full of possible stories. The stories tell of their influence by factors such as diet, lifestyle, emotional state, and environment.

In clinical practice, we are privileged to have the ability to hear what our patients are presenting with, or their story. We have the capacity to order testing to look at their phenotypical expression. The phenotypical expression describes what each gene is telling the body to say. In other words, the “stories” told. This allows not only to offer better treatment of existing concerns but also to tailor the prevention of future disease.

DNA: A Patient Study

I saw this first-hand through the story of one of my patients, JP. When we met, JP told me “I would love to find relief from the gut pain I feel daily… I can’t remember the last day I had without some bowel pain or issue like gas and bloating.” Alongside her severe digestive symptoms, JP expressed significant anxiety, fatigue toward the end of the day, fertility concerns, and cravings for sweets.

JP was a bright, young individual experiencing undue suffering every day. The issues left unresolved by conventional care were not only causing daily pain and discomfort but put JP at risk for developing serious illness in the future.

To get to the root-cause of JP’s suffering, I ran the following tests:

Enterolab

This uncovered hidden celiac disease, as well as casein (dairy) intolerance.

MRT LEAP

This showed 35 “reds” and “yellows” (food sensitivities), suggesting severe intestinal permeability.

GI Stool Effects

Showing SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and various medication intolerances.

Neurotransmitter Testing

Showing imbalances that could aggravate and perpetuate her anxiety.

Heart Rate Variability

Showed a stressed system in need of rest and relaxation.

ION Panel

Her ION revealed numerous nutritional imbalances. These allowed for exploration into ‘nutrigenomics’, or how these nutrient deficiencies and imbalances affected JP’s gene expression and determined her health.

All of the above tests allowed for a greater understanding of the underlying imbalances that lead to JP’s debilitating symptoms. This allowed me to eliminate her lifelong digestive problems by cleaning up her gut, reducing her toxicity, balancing her hormones, and replenishing her nutrient depletions.

Her anxiety, however, began to worsen once her digestion improved. It was only in looking at her genome that I was able to finesse her diet and supplement program to heal her fully.

23andMe DNA Gene Test

Prior to the deciphering of the human genome, humans believed that once we knew the code of life in our DNA, we would answer all the questions related to the origin of disease. In reality, we learned that rather than disease being locked-in as hardwired “stories” in our genome, these characteristics included in our genes are dynamic. Each gene is in a constant dance with our environment, lifestyle, diet, stress level, and physical activity (or lack thereof).

In running the 23andMe DNA gene test, we uncovered genetic inefficiencies in methylation, neurotransmitter sensitivity (mood management), and nutrient usage (explaining the nutritional imbalances). We received information so we could optimize her diet and realized how to reduce her risk for the mood disorders most of her close family suffered from. The ability to improve her addictive behavior around sweets, and greatly reduce the risk of her developing the chronic illnesses she was particularly susceptible to getting.

Thanks to genomic testing, I was able to see where JP’s gene expression was hindering her healing journey. With that knowledge, we were able to build bridges where there were once roadblocks, and JP left my office with the gifts of vitality and robust health.

The Genomic Revolution and Paradigm Shift in Healthcare

“Our health and disease patterns are not hardwired by our genes, but are rather a consequence of the interaction of our genetic uniqueness with environmental factors.”
Jeffery Bland, PhD

Jeff Bland called this genomic revolution a paradigm shift in our model of healthcare from a deterministic, disease-centric model to a wellness-centric model. We assumed dominant and recessive traits were locked into our genes with no ability to change them. The assumption said that medicine existed to put a band-aid on symptoms and disease which we could not prevent or heal. Luckily, our new wellness-centric model asks not only “How do you get sick?”, but “How can you be well?”.

We are on a gigantic wave of a medical revolution, and genomics is at the heart of that wave. Let’s paddle out together and see where the riptides might be.

About the author:

Dr. Murfin is wholeheartedly focused on her life’s mission to help people heal and achieve extraordinary outcomes. She believes that health is more than merely the absence of disease. It is a total state of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing through the creation of a whole and meaningful life. Dr. Murfin leaves no stone unturned to determine the root cause of illness or imbalance.

Body systems lack vibrancy without methylation. Methylation is the process of adding three hydrogen atoms and one carbon atom to a molecule in order to convert it into something else. Together, these are called a “methyl group.” This happens in your body billions of times per second and allows your body to repair DNA, reuse molecules responsible for detoxification, maintain mood, and control inflammation. Poor methylation can lead to a host of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, depression, and dementia.

Chronic Illness and Homocysteine

Homocysteine has a large influence on your susceptibility to chronic illness. Even greater this influence than weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure. Every time you ingest protein-rich foods, the methylation cycle produces mild inflammation in the form of homocysteine. In a healthy and well-nourished body, this homocysteine is converted into a powerful antioxidant called glutathione and a compound called SAMe (S-adenosyl-L-methionine). These help the body to produce and regulate hormones and maintain healthy cell membranes. If you are not optimally nourished, the methylation cycle becomes impaired and homocysteine starts to accumulate in the blood. Levels above 6mmol/L have been shown to lead to significantly increased risk for chronic illness.

What Factors Impair Methylation?

Poor diet: too much animal protein, sugar, saturated fat, caffeine, alcohol, and processed food, and low intake of vegetables.
Digestive issues and nutrient malabsorption.
Genetic factors (identifiable through the 23andMe Genetic test).
Medications, including the birth control pill and proton pump inhibitors and antacids.
Smoking
Toxicity from pesticides, pollution, etc.
Stress

Enhancing Vibrancy by Improving Methylation and Lowering Homocysteine:

Improve your diet!
- Eat lots of leafy greens and other vegetables (ideally ten servings per day).
- Cut out caffeine, alcohol, and processed food.
- Reduce saturated fat, animal protein, and canned foods.
Correct digestive issues.
Reduce stress.
Remove toxic exposure and detox your body.
Stop smoking.
Enjoy a nutritional IV, such as our Myer’s, Gut-Healing, or Vitamin/Mineral IVs.
B-vitamin injections.
Take supplements:
- HCl
- A good, methylated B-vitamin complex
- Zinc
- Trimethylglycine
- Glutathione
- Vitamin C
- NAC and ALA
- SAMe
- A quality multivitamin

Vibrancy is a state of strength, full of energy and life. You can achieve it by starting on a new health journey at Linden & Arc Vitality Institute. Contact us today.

My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his early 60’s so the subject of dementia is near and dear to me. I was only a year old when he died from the disease, but what strikes me about his illness is the fear that it has left behind for some of my family members. This is something I see commonly in my practice. Dementia, the word, can trigger very strong emotions in patients who have been touched by the illness in some way. It is terrifying to lose your ability to think, as this, in basic terms, defines who you are. This article will examine the old and new perceptions of dementia and cover the functional medicine approach to reversing it.

Dementia is debilitating.

Defining Dementia

In Canada, over 500 000 people are living with dementia. This number does not take into account undiagnosed dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and subjective cognitive impairment (SCI). SCI is when you perceive yourself to have deterioration in memory (or other cognitive functions), but your cognitive screening tests are negative. MCI occurs when your screening tests are abnormal but not severe enough to be dementia. Typically you are able to function quite normally and adapt to the cognitive decline.

The success of improving cognitive decline through the Functional Medicine approach and the Bredesen Protocol is best in the SCI group, then the MCI and then dementia groups. The earlier you start your journey, the better. It is never too early to start looking after your brain.

Dementia: The Old

The thought of reversing dementia sounds like something from the future and most consider it a terminal diagnosis. Conventional medicine physicians tell patients there is nothing further that can be done and to get their affairs in order while the change in a loved one’s condition devastates families. Not only do they lose memory, but they also may have personality changes and lose independence in social, occupational, and financial domains.

In the 20^th century, Alzheimer’s and other causes of dementia were often diagnosed very late in the course of the illness and treated with medications, which are not very effective. They in no way improve function or recover “lost” neural activity. There is a loss of control and no hope of getting better.

What I’d like to share with you is that there is hope. More than hope.

Dementia: The New

Amyloid-beta deposition & neurofibrillary tangles cause dysfunction of neural networks and the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. We have known for some time but until now, we have not known why this occurs. With many years of research, Dr. Dale Bredesen and his team have finally been able to find the “why” of dementia.

They have identified 36 underlying triggers for amyloid-beta deposition and divided dementia into 6 broad categories, based on the cause. These are Type 1 “Inflammatory,” Type 2 “Atrophic” (or lack of nutrients and hormones), Type 1.5 “Glycotoxic” (sugar/ glucose regulation), Type 3 “Toxic,” Type 4 “Vascular” (blood vessel-related) and Type 5 “Traumatic.” What they have found is that amyloid-beta deposition is a protective response to these triggers but the removal of the amyloid-beta, without fixing the underlying cause, can do more harm than good. In any given patient, there is likely to be a contribution from each of these groups, but one or two often predominate.

Dementia and Genetics

Does genetics play a role in getting dementia? If this were true, then it is a waiting game that you have no control over. This is absolutely not true. Less than 5% of Alzheimer’s genes are of high penetrance and destine you to have the illness. The more common underlying genes that influence but do not always cause Alzheimer’s, are the Apo E4 genes, and genes can be tested. The number of copies of the gene may influence your risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but the beauty of 21st-century medicine is that we now know that epigenetic mechanisms are far more important than the gene itself. What this means is that the signals that you send to your genes will influence the way that they express themselves.

So through diet, exercise, stress management, curbing inflammation, managing toxicity and chronic infections, and healing the gut, we can improve the signals we send to our genes. When our brains are sent these good signals, they build synapses and brain function improves. The concept of neuroplasticity – the ability to change our brains- is very empowering.

Functional Medicine and Reversing Dementia

The purpose of functional medicine is to look at the root cause of illness. This makes it the perfect approach for reversing dementia. The Bredesen approach to brain health parallels the Core Nodes of Healing that we use in our practice. In conventional medicine, a doctor makes a diagnosis and gives a specific treatment or treatments focused on that specific diagnosis. Functional Medicine and Bredesen’s program maintains that many causes exist for any given symptom, and each underlying cause can lead to a number of different symptoms. In the management of these complex underlying causes, there are many focuses of treatment and each patient’s presentation is very individual, based on their underlying causes.

Bredesen refers to “36 holes in a roof”. If each underlying cause represents one hole in the roof, healing will not occur unless every hole is plugged. After plugging away at the holes, there is some synergism. This means plugging 10 holes can give the body enough momentum to start plugging the other holes. In other words, if you give the body enough help, it can start to heal itself. Genetics plays a role in dementia.

Since 2017, I have been a Bredesen Certified Practitioner. MPI Cognition was established to provide the research, support, and information to make this approach available to all. Dr Bredesen has created a RECODE report (REversing COgnitive DEcline), which is a software program that can be accessed online by interested patients. You would select me as a practitioner and pay a $75 USD monthly fee to be part of the program, with a 1 year commitment. This is to ensure continued compliance with the program because it can take at least many months to start making progress. This fee is separate to our usual clinic fees.

Your Next Steps

The next steps are crucial. First, I will gather your history during your initial consultation. Every piece of information I can gather about you helps complete this puzzle. Your family history, your mother’s health while pregnant with you, and every detail of your health through your life. This is so I can pinpoint where the triggers to your current health may have come from. We then gather further information through more tests which allows us to populate the RECODE report and prioritize your treatment. Next, we provide a list of recommended tests. You are able to choose as many as you are able to do. Even if all tests are not done, the RECODE report can still be completed but will be most accurate with the most information. Part of the initial intake includes baseline cognitive testing, which is tracked over time.

Once your individual management plan is identified, a multidisciplinary approach is taken. Nutritionists, exercise therapists, neural retraining, intravenous treatments, supplements, and meditation training are all possible aspects of your treatment.

So, with my family history in mind, what have I done to prevent the development of this devastating disease? I have identified my genes and my triggers and am working towards optimizing each of the 6 categories, mentioned above. I look forward to working with patients and families to optimize brain and total body health rough clinical and personal experience with Functional Medicine, and the Bredesen Protocol.

Resources:

https://lynnemurfinmd.com/lynne-murfin-bio/dr-michelle-van-der-westhuizen-functional-medicine-physician/For further information please contact us.

Visit: https://www.mpicognition.com/programs/report/ and https://www.drbredesen.com/copy-of-the-bredesen-protocol-tm for more information on the Bredesen Protocol.

You can also read Dr. Dale Bredesen’s book entitled “The End of Alzheimer’s”. I recommend this for those who have a family history of dementia, notices cognitive issues in themselves, or knows someone with dementia. It is truly enlightening and empowering.