Discover with Dr. Dan | Proactive Health

#7: Epigenetics | From Controlling Addiction to Behavior to Obesity


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Epigenetics and how it can influence all aspects of our lives is a topic we will address today. With me is renowned epigeneticist, Professor Moshe Szyf, an expert on how the way our DNA is expressed can influence all aspects of human health. He tells us the basics of epigenetics, and then we go into what happens in cancer cells, how the cells are communicating, and how we can spot those cells in blood early on to prevent them from spreading. There are certain things that can happen in the early stages of development for humans or animals that will leave a mark on someone’s genes and may last or stay for an extended period, but these marks can be changed/removed. We discuss diet and the development of infants whose genetic code will be greatly influenced by what diet they were exposed to growing up, causing obesity later in life.

Moshe and his accomplishments 1:03
How many genes does the human body have? 5:53
Examples of how epigenetics can impact various aspects of our lives 7:35
Epigenetics and certain experiences in life 10:23
Addiction and epigenetics 19:23
Diet 21:18
We can see if cognitive behavioral therapy is improving people’s conditions 33:09

“I always say that genetics is pessimistic. Epigenetics is optimistic because genetics is predetermined, right? It’s very hard to change the genes you inherited. But how you take care of your inheritance, that’s epigenetics, and that’s up to you and up to society and your parents, and et cetera.” 17:54
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Discover with Dr. Dan | Proactive HealthBy Dr. Dan Gubler