What do you believe in?

What do you believe in?

My mother, who recently turned 64, called me the other day and told me she was worried about her mental functions. She told me that both her grandmother and her mother suffered from dementia in the last years of their lives.

“This runs in my family and I’m worried it will happen to me!” she said.

I explained to her that just because her mother had this problem doesn’t mean it will happen to her.

Her response? “But it’s in my genes!”

And I told her the story of two identical twin women who were 90 years old, meaning the women had identical genes. One woman lived in a nursing home, suffered from dementia, had cataracts, and was confined to a wheelchair.

Her sister, however, still lived in her home, was mentally strong as always, and continued to lead an active life.

Why did these two women with the same genes end up in different places? It has to do with how genes are activated or expressed.

Now there are more and more studies realizing that having the gene is not enough; it also needs to be expressed.

Marc Bony, DC