In our Denver, CO functional medicine practice, we commonly order tests meant to dig deep into each patient’s personal risk profile, propensity for disease, and opportunities for better health. Sometimes patients who find they have a genetic risk factor for disease question whether there is anything they can do. The answer: while genes play a very important role in health, we all have the power to strongly influence our personal risks. With the guidance of a functional medicine practitioner at Tendwell, you can take concrete steps to vastly improve your long-term health outlook. In this blog, we address genetics, disease risk, and what you can do about it.

Understanding and managing the risk of genetic diseases is a crucial aspect of maintaining overall health. While we can't alter our genetic makeup, there are practical steps we can take to minimize the impact of genetic factors. This functional medicine blog explores key strategies for risk reduction, the role of genetic testing, and the holistic approach of functional medicine.

The CYP1A2 gene variant refers to genetic variations in the CYP1A2 gene, which encodes the cytochrome P450 1A2 enzyme. This enzyme is responsible for metabolizing various substances, including caffeine, in the body. The two most common CYP1A2 gene variants are often referred to as "slow metabolizers" and "fast metabolizers." Here are some questions and answers about the gene:

The MTHFR gene is a gene that provides instructions for making an enzyme called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. This enzyme is involved in a process called methylation, which is important for various biochemical reactions in the body, including the conversion of the amino acid homocysteine to methionine.

What is epigenetics and why is this an important concept in functional medicine? Epigenetics refers to changes in the expression of genes (how genes are turned on or off) that can occur without changing the underlying DNA sequence. This means that the DNA itself doesn't change, but how the genes are read and used by the body can be altered.