Genetics vs Healthy Living

[FWS]

An old friend died not long ago, she was 61, church going Baptist, never smoked or drank in her life, rode her bike or walked just about everywhere, ate home cooked meals all her life, no soft drinks, no caffeinated drinks, was married to the same guy since she was 18, and so on.........

Was sitting on her easy chair sewing something and her head fell over and she was dead. Big coronary.

Another old friend had told me about her passing, he's 87, a WW2 vet, who has drunk like a fish since grade school, smokes cigars, eats bacon and eggs every morning, cooks enough bacon to make a sandwich for lunch, has been through several wives and innumerable girlfriends, still has a full head of hair, still fishes commercially, and hunts a lot. Total heathen, was known to turn the hose on Jehovahs Witnesses and other religious doorknockers. Has always been very active.

As we discussed it he was telling me about her family, whom he remembered, all lived healthy lifestyles but died fairly young, and she lived longer than most of them, her dad died in his late 30's.

His family were long lived on both sides, making it to his age and some beyond.

I'm sure living healthy helps, but we can't escape our genetics.

[PamIsMe]

Agreed! There are lots of things that run in families, depression, mental problems, alcoholism, heart trouble, cancer, allergies and longevity as well.

Just gotta hope you get the good genes in the family instead of the bad.

Cheers,
Pam

[James]

Anecdotal evidence.

Jim

[PamIsMe]

I think there is plenty of scientific evidence to back up the claim that many types of problems do run in families, at least the proclivity towards developing them.

"Many scientific studies, including research conducted among twins and children of alcoholics, have shown that genetic factors influence alcoholism. These findings show that children of alcoholics are about four times more likely than the general population to develop alcohol problems. "

"DNA repair genes fix mistakes made when DNA is replicated (copied). If a person has a mutation in a DNA repair gene, these mistakes are not corrected. Mistakes that aren't fixed become mutations, which may eventually lead to cancer (especially if the mutation occurs in a tumor suppressor gene or oncogene). Mutations in DNA repair genes can be inherited in the germline (in Lynch syndrome, for example) or acquired."

"Don Steffensen's heart nearly quit while he was duck hunting with friends when he was 62. When his doctors learned that he and eight of his 11 siblings had heart problems, they recruited the family for a landmark genetic analysis. Their two-year study shifted some of the blame for the family's misfortune from meat, potatoes and gravy to a faulty gene."

"Environment may get most of the blame, but scientists have found that allergies like asthma and hay fever have a powerful genetic component — just not in the classic Mendelian pattern. "
"Unlike hair and eye color, they stem from the interactions of a multitude of genes, some conferring protection and others contributing to the development of allergies. As a result, people may not inherit their parents’ specific allergies to ragweed or pollen, but will have an increased likelihood of developing an allergy in general, particularly when both parents have one."


Pam