The science of epigenetics - why nature loads the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger..

Have you heard of epigenetics? 

It's a term to describe part of our genes - a switch that turns our DNA 'on' or 'off', deciding whether or not  it's activated.

 While many people believe inherited conditions are inevitable, in reality our lifestyle and environment play a HUGE role in whether they actually are. Even in conditions like cancer, most cases are not genetic - in breast cancer for example, only 5-10% of cases are thought to be due to our genes - leaving a massive 90-95% that are not!!

This means we have SO much power to alter our genes, and therefore our future health

While most of our epigenome is reset when we pass our DNA onto our children, sometimes this 'imprint' remains, and is also passed on, to our child, and even their children - our choices can affect future generations. A classic example is in mothers who were pregnant during through the Dutch famine of 1944-45. Babies born to these women had significantly higher rates of obesity, diabetes, schizophrenia, and infertility - due to epigenetic changes from their mothers having very little food. 

And these risks not only affected the children, they were passed on through several generations!

In Sweden, longitudinal data has shown that the diet of fathers, and even grandfather's, can influence the risk of heart disease in their descendants 

Even traumatic experiences may be inherited, such as phobias 😯

Epigenetic imprinting does not change our actual DNA - environmental factors add or take away markers on our DNA (the most common is called methylation), that determine whether this part of the DNA is active or not, and used when cells replicate. New technology can detect these 'methylations', and can even be used to determine our biological age - how old our cells are (compared to our actual age). 

A higher biological age means we are ageing faster than expected, increasing our risk of disease and early death

Early childhood experiences can also create epigenetic changes, that can affect future health - childhood trauma in particular, is thought to create imprints that increase our risk of  disease as an adult

While this may sound complex (and a bit scary), the vital point is that we actually have a huge amount of control over this process!

Epigenetic changes are mostly reversible, meaning they can change with our environment - and our diet, stress levels, physical activity, sleep, and even social connections all influence our epigenome

This means the actions we take and the lifestyle we live on a day to day basis, can influence our future

So if you're wondering if it's worth trying to improve your health, the message is that its never too late to change!!