Epigenetics

What is Epigenetics?

Epigenetics is a fascinating field of biology that explores how our genes are regulated and influenced by factors beyond the DNA sequence itself. To put it simply, think of your DNA as the instruction manual for building and running your body. Epigenetics is like the sticky notes and highlights in that manual that tell your cells which parts to read and use, and which parts to ignore.

Here are some key points to help you understand epigenetics:

  1. DNA and Genes: Your body is made up of trillions of cells, and each cell contains a copy of your DNA. DNA is composed of genes, which are like the individual chapters in the instruction manual. Genes provide the instructions for making proteins that perform various functions in your body.

  2. Epigenetic Marks: In addition to the DNA sequence itself, there are tiny chemical marks that can be added to the DNA and the proteins it wraps around. These marks are like the sticky notes and highlights in the instruction manual. They can turn genes on or off, making them more or less active.

  3. Influence of Environment: What's really exciting about epigenetics is that these marks can be influenced by your environment and experiences. Factors like diet, stress, exercise, and even the air you breathe can affect these marks. This means that your lifestyle and environment can have a direct impact on how your genes are expressed.

  4. Hereditary: Epigenetic marks can also be passed from one generation to the next. So, if your parents or grandparents had certain experiences or exposures that affected their epigenetics, it could potentially influence your own epigenetic marks.

  5. Health Implications: Epigenetics plays a crucial role in health and disease. Changes in epigenetic marks can contribute to various medical conditions, including cancer, diabetes, and mental health disorders. Understanding these marks can help scientists develop new treatments and interventions.

In summary, epigenetics is all about the changes in gene activity that don't involve changes to the actual DNA sequence.

It's a dynamic and exciting area of research that helps us understand how our genes respond to the world around us and how our experiences and choices can impact our health and well-being.

bioage and pace analysis

Just like your nutrigenomic assessment looks at nutritional influences on gene function, BioAge looks at epigenetic predictors of gene function.

Epi-Genetics literally means “Above” the “Gene.” These are markers that demonstrate the stress sustained on your genome over time, that can impact how your genes function, but more importantly, impact the rate of your DNA aging. The faster your DNA ages, the older you become.

How your cells are aging is one of the biggest predictors to your health and longevity and risk for chronic disease. Epigenetic testing looks at the impact your diet, lifestyle and environment have had on your gene function over time, beginning in utero!

This test evaluates your telomers, the buffer on the end of each strand of DNA that protects it from degradation - the longer a telomer, the longer your DNA will survive. It also evaluates your DNA methylation islands - stacks of methyl groups around various genes that predict a stressor to that gene function and increase risk for advanced aging and disease. In addition, it looks at stress around genes coding specifically for your immune health - if more activity exists, your immune cells are really stressed, and that can lead to increased inflammation and more rapid aging.

Not only will it test for predictors of aging, it will provide you a speedometer to demonstrate just how impactful these factors are in speeding up (or slowing down) your aging process. PLUS you will be provided with guidance around lifestyle and dietary strategies you can take to improve your health for the long run.

PACE is an abbreviated snapshot of your aging risk. It is a quick look at your rate of aging so you can see if your lifestyle and dietary changes are truly impacting your DNA, or not.

Environmental Medicine and epigentics

What is environmental medicine?

Environmental medicine is a specialty that looks at the influence of your environment on your health. In particular, environmental medicine practitioners like Dr. Bartman study the relationship between environmental factors and any health problems you might have.

Your environment is the world around you, the places where you live, work, go to school, or otherwise spend your time. There are many potential influences in your environment that could affect your health, such as pollutants and irritants in the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat.

These environmental factors can alter the way enzymes work in your body. Enzymes are critical to your metabolism, so if they’re not functioning as they should, it can severely impact how you feel.

What environmental factors could affect my health?

Examples of substances in the environment that can affect health include:

  • Environmental radiation

  • Ultraviolet light

  • Tobacco smoke

  • Exhaust fumes

  • Power plant pollution

  • Environmental noise

  • Pesticides

  • Chemical pollution

  • Allergens

The effect of any of these on your health depends in part on your level of exposure. For example, living in a city dramatically increases your exposure to exhaust fumes, increasing your chances of developing respiratory health problems.

The effects of your environment can also differ according to the influence of an individual’s:

  • Genetic predisposition

  • Gender

  • Nutrition

  • Current health

  • Emotional stress

  • Physical activity

In other words, if you already have risk factors for a specific condition, then your environment could be even more influential on your health.

What conditions are caused by environmental factors?

There are certain diseases that can develop entirely because of environmental factors. Respiratory conditions such as emphysema and lung cancer are examples of diseases that are typically due to breathing in pollutants like smoke, asbestos, or other contaminants over the long term.

Excessive exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays or tanning beds is known to cause skin cancer, and contaminated water can carry numerous bacteria that cause gastrointestinal and other health problems.

However, the impact of the environment on your health goes far beyond these diseases. Lower exposures to a variety of pollutants can have an adverse effect on many of your body’s systems, causing familiar symptoms such as fatigue, problems sleeping, and general aches and pains.

How does environmental medicine improve my health?

Dr. Bartman analyses the environmental factors that could be affecting your health by going over your medical history, discussing where and how you live, and running tests to check for contaminants or deficiencies in your body.

When she has the information about what environmental factors are impacting your health, she creates a personalized treatment program that aims to reduce the harmful effects of your environment. This could include therapies such as:

  • Lifestyle interventions

  • Clinical nutrition

  • Botanical medicines

  • Homeopathy

  • Hormone supplementation

  • Nutritional supplementation

environmental survey

As you can see, your environment plays a big role in epigenetic programing and gene health. All 6-month packages will dive into the environmental impacts made on your health and well-being.

Dr. Liz will ask detailed questions about your current environment, as well as the environment you grew up in.

Based on your history and risk factors, and paired with a risk analysis from your genome, labs will be suggested and treatment suggested to support your body inside and out.

Labs may include:

  • Serum testing

  • Urine testing

  • Hair analysis