The other night I went to a little presentation by Navigenics, where the topic of the evening centered around predictive genomics testing, genetic predisposition and the idea of personalized medicine.

To my mind, the subject is not so easy to discuss because how genes behave is heavily influenced by the environment you put them in, from what we eat to what we live in.  Personally, I’m happy about that, because self direction is empowering.

But, nevertheless, we talked about how the evolution of genomics is upon us.  Coming to a doctors office near you.  Knowledge never more to be an unattainable mystery…

And, perhaps useful in actually helping people achieve better health.

We’ve been seeing predictive genomics testing companies, like 23andMe, cropping up all over the place.  What is different about the Navigenics plan?

As opposed to companies that offer large numbers of SNP’s , as these  little “snippets” of genetic information are called, Navigenics offers a core group of SNP’s that correlate best with chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, as well as some cancers.  The idea being that it is most useful to test for things that you can then institute preventive intervention for.  And, to do that through your doctor, who is in a position to help, whether it be through behavioral change, a medication regimen or screening tests.  In the case of functional and integrative medicine, the preventive strategy is even broader and more holistic.

Ahhhh.  But shouldn’t we all be doing all that preventive stuff anyway?

Yes.  We should.  With should being the key word here.

But a funny thing happens when people are actually presented with their genetic proclivities.  Like a very seductive behavioral carrot stick…it actually gets people to behave better.  To take action.

OK.  Well, how much out of pocket health care money is it worth?  Because, it’s not covered by health insurance.  Who will benefit the most and who will be interested?

Good questions.

Stay tuned.

As a physician, I heard your frustration. And, I was just as frustrated as you! But, I have come a long way. I am now happy to say that for many problems, there IS a better way: a new way of thinking about health care and the practice of medicine. I call it sensible progressive medicine. It is prevention based and is not about “curing” disease, but rather, it is about optimizing how the body functions so that it can best take care of itself.

In my fourteen years of internal medicine and spine care experience, I have discovered that conventional medicine is great at many things, particularly acute care and symptom control, but it is often not always good at getting to the root of problems – or prevention.

Scientific studies are showing increasingly that there are a handful of things that are at the root of a diverse number of health problems. First, we all have a particular genetic makeup that can predispose us to different types of problems. We call that genomic predisposition. Layered on top of that is the environment that we live in. That includes everything from the air we breathe and the chemicals we are exposed to, to the food we eat; the stress we are exposed to and medicines we take. Sometimes we are overweight, have chronic allergic situations, chronic low grade infections or chronic nutritional problems. When all of these factors combine in an unhealthy way, several things can happen. Inflammation, oxidation (the “exhaust” of burning oxygen) and overload of the natural enzyme and detoxification systems can produce the “symptoms” that make us uncomfortable and have us running to the doctor.

I have become dedicated to looking at health from this new perspective. Using the best of conventional thinking in combination with the most sensible of progressive new thinking. The wonderful thing about this is that much of it can be accomplished by taking steps to achieve wellness, rather than focusing only on treating symptoms.

My mission is to provide both information and medical care, so you will find both on this web site.

Imagine medical care based on restoring health and preventing future problems. Imagine infinite horizons and sustainable wellness.