Help with Managing Stress

[Polly]

Hi Good Buddies!

I heard a review of a book on the radio yesterday that was intriguing and may help us learn to manage stress better. It's called "The Relaxation Revolution", and I have ordered it from amazon.com. I read the author's original book, "The Relaxation Response" years ago and recall that it was extremely helpful to me then. Basically, it is very scientific and tells you clearly how to achieve that state of relaxation that is associated with healing, calming the immune system, etc.

But listen to this!!! The review on the radio said that getting into this state regularly may actually alter GENES that are functioning abnormally. WOW! I don't know whether this has actually been proven or not, but I will find out.
Stay tuned..........I will give you a review when I finish the book.

Love,

Polly

[MaggieRedwings]

Morning Polly,

WOW! I am waiting for your review. May alter genes?? Now that is what I want to see happen.

Love, Maggie

[Kari]

Hi Polly,

I would like to place my order for altering 2 of my genes :):):). Can't wait for your review .....

Love,
Kari

P.S. The relaxation response has saved me (from myself:)) many a time - something I've been working with for over 20 years .....

[hoosier1]

Polly,

That is interesting. I wonder if that is like the breathing techniques I learned at the Stanford Protocol (can be found in the book "A Headache in the Pelvis). It was called RSA breathing http://www.mindpub.com/art549.htm Basically, one can slow his or her heartbeat down and respirations to a fraction of one's normal resting state. I used to be able to slow my respirations to 6 - 8 per minute if memory serves. You sync your respirations to a percentage of your heartbeat, and bit by bit, you slow down and relax. Really quite amazing and calming. I need to start doing that again because it really was a nice feeling.

Rich

[Rosie]

Very interesting, Polly!

The review on the radio said that getting into this state regularly may actually alter GENES that are functioning abnormally. WOW! I don't know whether this has actually been proven or not, but I will find out.

Your comments got me thinking, and doing a bit of research on epigenetics. With epigenetics, the actual genetic code of the genetic DNA isn't altered, but the expression of the gene is. And some of these changes can be passed on to the next generation! I found an interesting article in Time Magazine from earlier in the year talking about epigenetics and was struck by how it can help explain the history of Celiac disease and other gluten sensitivities like MC!

http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... 68,00.html

Biologists offer this analogy as an explanation: if the genome is the hardware, then the epigenome is the software.

At its most basic, epigenetics is the study of changes in gene activity that do not involve alterations to the genetic code but still get passed down to at least one successive generation. These patterns of gene expression are governed by the cellular material — the epigenome — that sits on top of the genome, just outside it (hence the prefix epi-, which means above). It is these epigenetic "marks" that tell your genes to switch on or off, to speak loudly or whisper. It is through epigenetic marks that environmental factors like diet, stress and prenatal nutrition can make an imprint on genes that is passed from one generation to the next.

Epigenetic changes represent a biological response to an environmental stressor. That response can be inherited through many generations via epigenetic marks, but if you remove the environmental pressure, the epigenetic marks will eventually fade, and the DNA code will — over time — begin to revert to its original programming. That's the current thinking, anyway.

Then he ran across an obscure 1996 paper by Dr. Marcus Pembrey, a prominent geneticist at University College London.
Published in the Italian journal Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae, Pembrey's paper, now considered seminal in epigenetic theory, was contentious at the time; major journals had rejected it. Although he is a committed Darwinist, Pembrey used the paper — a review of available epigenetic science — to speculate beyond Darwin: What if the environmental pressures and social changes of the industrial age had become so powerful that evolution had begun to demand that our genes respond faster? What if our DNA now had to react not over many generations and millions of years but, as Pembrey wrote, within "a few, or moderate number, of generations"? This shortened timetable would mean that genes themselves wouldn't have had enough years to change. But, Pembrey reasoned, maybe the epigenetic marks atop DNA would have had time to change.

So perhaps the agricultural revolution and the radical change in diet led to epigenetic changes in much of the population. One could speculate that during times of famine, those persons able to tolerate wheat and other grains, either because of natural genetic tolerance or epigenetic changes, would survive. Perhaps if the pressures of famine are reduced, then the epigenetic programming is gradually lost, and that explains why gluten and other grain sensitivities have been increasing so much in the last few generations. Perhaps in those of us who develop MC (and CD), somehow those epigenetic changes have been lost, resulting in symptoms. Maybe that explains why even though the genes for CD and MC are so common, not that many people develop sensitivities. We talk a lot about having the genes "triggered" and perhaps the trigger removes the previous epigenetic alteration of gene expression, allowing the original sensitive state to be expressed? It could also explain why some people seem to have a spontaneous "remission" where somehow the original pattern of gene expression was restored.

Of course this is only speculation, but the whole field of epigenetics is really "hot" right now in scientific research, so perhaps some insights into our food sensitivites might result in the future.......

Rosie

[Bifcus16]

Rich,

I liked your comments about slowing down the heart beat. I remember a guy I knew who was into competitive pistol shooting. Those guys can actually slow their heart rate right down so that they can fire pull the trigger between beats.

Lyn

[Linda in BC]

Rosie, thank you for posting that extremely interesting information on epigenetics. Much food for thought...

Linda

[tex]

Rosie,

You're probably on to something there, alright. Have you seen the PBS video on epigenetics? I remember seeing it a year or two ago - it was extremely interesting, to say the least.

Thanks for the insight.

Tex

[mbeezie]

Morning Polly and Rosie,

Very interesting topics on altering genes and epigenetics. I'm a firm beleiver in the Mind Body Connection. I look forward to hearing your book review Polly - I'm always on the lookout for good books on this subject.

Love,

Mary Beth

[Polly]

Mornin'!

Fascinating, Rosie. I read something about this in Scientific American during the past year. It is exciting to think that there is a factor beyond the gene itself that can modulate the gene's performance. Dr. Fine talks about our MC/food intolerance genes being "switched on"........who knows, maybe we can learn to switch them back off again. Epigenetics sure makes sense in the scheme of things, doesn't it? It would be an important survival mechanism for humans (any kind of life, really) whenever they must endure environmental extremes/deprivations.

Mary Beth, perhaps epigenetics is one of the major keys to the mind/body connection? Our understanding of this whole area is still in the infancy stage. It has been only recently that we have learned that long-term meditators, for example, actually change the structure of their brain. The physical part of the brain that is responsible for "happiness" increases and can be measured. So much more to learn..............

Love,

Polly

[Ginny]

Wow this is very interesting. I am having a difficult time right now trying to regulate my system again and it appears it doesn't matter what I put in my mouth; my gut is not happy. I am also a big believer in the mind/ body Connection. My DH swears that is my main problem and I am beginning to think he is right. I'm going to order the book as well. Thanks Polly for the information. Ginny

[Zizzle]

I'm looking for a speaker on Epigenetics for my organization's conference. We focus on prevention research, but we see Epigenetics, even microbiome research, as a new frontier in prevention research. I thought about reaching out to the celiac and mucosal biology research center (Dr. Fasano's group), but I'm afraid I'm biased towards the gut agenda. My planning committee members are interested in the prenatal stress theory of epigenetics. If you have come across names of experts in these magazine articles or programs, let me know!