A Healthy Lifestyle Triggers Genetic Changes
Source: www.reuters.com
WASHINGTON, DC, USA, June 18, 2008: Based on a small study, US researchers say that comprehensive lifestyle changes, including a better diet and more exercise, can quickly cause dramatic changes at the genetic level.
As reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer who had decided against conventional medical treatment such as surgery and radiation or hormone therapy. Their decision allowed researchers to study biopsies in cancer patients before and after lifestyle changes. The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation.
As expected, they lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and saw other health improvements. But the “before” and “after” prostate biopsies were startling. That three-month period saw changes in activity in about 500 genes–including 48 that were turned on and 453 genes that were turned off. The activity of disease- preventing genes increased, while a number of disease-promoting genes, including those involved in prostate cancer and breast cancer, shut down.
The research was led by Dr. Dean Ornish, head of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, and a well-known author advocating lifestyle changes to improve health. “It’s an exciting finding because so often people say, ‘Oh, it’s all in my genes, what can I do?’ Well, it turns out you may be able to do a lot,” Ornish, who is also affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, said in a telephone interview. “‘In just three months, I can change hundreds of my genes simply by changing what I eat and how I live?’ That’s pretty exciting.”
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