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    Gene activities can be modulated to counter high blood pressure or diabetes Deepak Chopra

    Synopsis

    Expert says most genes are the effect of our lifestyle and not what we have inherited, questions whether at all genes are responsible or such ailments.

    PTI
    NEW DELHI: The next time someone attributes high blood pressure or diabetes to family history, think again! Are genes really responsible for ailments? Perhaps, no according to physician author Deepak Chopra.

    According to common definition, a gene is a unit of heredity transferred from parent to offspring. However, Chopra says most genes are the effect of our lifestyle and not what we have inherited.

    "Only 5 per cent of what are called disease related gene mutation are fully penetrant, which means we inherit them, and you can't prevent those. But 95 per cent of disease related gene mutation are influenced by many factors like food and the quality of our emotions," says Chopra.

    The Indian-born physician and a pioneer of mind-body medicine was here recently to deliver a lecture "The Future of Well Being" organised by non profit organisation Health Care Foundation of India.

    Chopra, uses metaphors to explain that "DNA is the alphabet of life and genes is like the word".

    "You have alphabets, then you have the words, then you have sentences, then you have paragraphs and then you have the stories. Your body is much more complex than your DNA. You cannot change the alphabet but you can change the way the alphabet influences the word and then you can change the sequence of the word.

    "And the onset of that is never too late. You can get the changes at any age. It's all done by lifestyle, no medicine required," says Chopra.

    The 66-year-old prominent alternative-medicine advocate, points out that microbes in the human body responds to activities on the basis of which genes react.

    "The population of microbes in the body of any biological organism is mostly found in the gut and in the skin. Oral cavity, eyes, skin, hair follicle, stomach, intestine, blood houses the micro biomes. The human body has 600 trillion cells, only 10 per cent are human. So all our biological science has been about 10 per cent of who we are."

    "The microbes respond not only to what you eat but to almost every experience you have. Eating is of course a very important aspect because when you put food in your mouth, it goes to your stomach and to your intestine and the first thing it interacts with are the microbes.

    Chopra points out that various activities disturb the micro biomes and in the process gets inflamed.

    "When it leads to inflammation, it acts as the background not only for diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity but almost for every other chronic illness. All the co morbidities of diabetes; heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular illness in general, auto-immune diseases, increased susceptibility to infection and a number of cancers, not all cancers," says Chopra.

    Factors affecting the gene expression include not only the diet but also quality of sleep, exercise, yoga, breathing techniques, emotions as well , meditation. All of these things will influence the gene expression, says the 'New Age' guru.

    "This new science is called the epi-genetics," says Chopra.

    "What I find here is, people don't talk to you. Half the time they talk to you and half the time they're looking at their smartphone. Multitasking is one thing that gets worse with practice. It is the worst thing you can do to your brain, your body and your immune system," says the physician-author.

    Chopra points that despite advances in surgery and diagnostics, it would not be possible to prevent illness or administer effective treatment if the process of the body is not understood.

    "Most people don't realize that only 2 per cent of people with stable heart disease benefit from bypass surgery. And yet it is the most common heart surgery done in the world right now, including the United States. Less than 1 per cent of people in China benefit from angioplasty but how many people get it?

    "So the medicine of the future has to be more intelligent. We are right now doing, what is called very mechanical medicine which has no intelligence involved; everybody gets the same treatment, everybody gets the same prescription, everybody gets the same surgery, when over 95 per cent of illness is preventable and a lot of chronic illness, including arthritis, bronchial asthma, is not only preventable but also reversible," says Chopra.

    Chopra, who has authored over 71 books, including "What Are You Hungry For?" and "Ageless Body Timeless Mind' says he is presently involve in a multi-million dollar research.

    The research, he says, aims to prove that the real cure lies not just medicine but also in the "science of well-being", which includes physical, financial, community, social and professional well-being.






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