So there you are, sitting in your Doctor’s office. You waited a month to get an appointment, your symptoms are vague, but you know something isn’t quite right. It hasn’t been for a long time. Your energy is low, you are not able to stay mentally alert, your moody, maybe your menstrual cycle is off. But you’re not “sick.”

 

The Doctor finally enters. You describe your symptoms. The Doctor asks questions you have already asked yourself, researched, and ruled out. Maybe they prescribe you a medication, or tell you to give it time. “It’s part of getting older.” You leave without feeling any sense of relief.

 

Unfortunately most of us have been there. It’s not the Doctor’s fault. Our medical schools and systems are not set up for Doctors to treat the individual. Most are trained to prescribe universally repeatable treatments. But in reality, the is no one-size-fits all approach to health, certainly not for optimal health. We each have our own unique genetic makeup and own unique requirements to function optimally.

 

Luckily, for those motivated to take their health into their own hands, technology is finally at a stage to provide data on our bio-individuality and the specific personalized nutritional support to cultivate optimal health. Whether you are already sick or looking for overall longterm wellbeing, the guesswork can be taken out. Through the combination of functional medicine and genetic testing (via companies like 23andme.com) we can see into our body’s mapping and performance data as both a snapshot in time and our underlying lifelong steady state. The goal is to discover genetic variances and with the help of OptiGenetix, an action plan to address the impacts those variances have on the body.

 

Getting a little more technical, within our DNA we each have what are referred to as SNPs, or genetic variations, where a single base is substituted for another when transcribing from DNA to RNA. Some SNPs give us advantages and others cause the body to operate in a less efficient manner. We can have SNPs on both alleles or just one, making an individual homozygous or heterozygous for the gene. By understanding where these variances are, we have the ability to develop personal nutrition plans and lifestyle suggestions for everyday optimal health and disease prevention. This could include supplementation to align your body’s Phase I and Phase II detoxification so toxins are released versus recycled in the body, or the addition of supplements like SAMe, Magnesium and/or neurotransmitter precursors to help the body methylate noradrenalin and move out of a constant fight/flight state. The beauty is that the plan is completely catered to your individual genetic makeup and needs. In this approach, food and supplementation is treated as medicine and long term we prevent the need to turn to prescription drugs. More than just disease prevention, we give the body what it needs to feel good every day.

 

As an example, lets take a variant in the MTR (5-mthyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase) gene. If a SNP is shown at the MTR gene, we know this person is at a disadvantage when converting the amino acid homocysteine to methionine and therefore burns through a higher level of B12 in order to make the conversion. Backed up levels of homocysteine have been implicated as risk factors in a number of health conditions including heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Instead of stepping in, seeing the association of heart disease to the MTR SNP and providing medication, or treating it as an unavoidable part of family genetics, we proactively look at what we can do to improve the functioning of the cyclical homocysteine to methionine conversion pathway. Through the insight provided in our genetic and functional medicine tests we have the opportunity to mitigate the SNP’s impact. As a action step, we increase the required daily value of B12 for this person and thus help prevent the development of a B12 deficiency and increase functionality of the conversion process. With healthy levels of B12 we avoid altered functioning of a number of different enzymes and contribute to healthy pathways in the methylation cycle. If a B12 deficiency had occurred, and the methylation process was impacted, the individual could have experienced expression of viral genes, neurological inflammation, hormonal imbalances, impaired myelination and pruning of nerves, and/or regulation of neurotransmitters for mood and cell membrane mobility and fluidity. Without OptiGenetix, any one of these symptoms could be treated with prescription medication (that each have their own side effects) without ever getting to the root of the problem.

 

It’s time to stop treating the symptoms and understand and correct the primary cause of our health issues. Optigenetix provides in depth analysis and individualized action plans on how each person can achieve optimal health. If you are interested in finding out more about how to achieve optimal health, where to obtain testing, or even just which form of B12 your body can absorb (also dependent on the SNPs in your DNA. Hint: it’s not the CyanoB12 form commonly found in supplements), send your inquiry to OptimalHealth@OptiGenetix.net