Genetics- Passing over diseases

[Mr Rayon]

Hmmm....okay, let's say that you have a lot of family members who have had diseases which could all have been genetically passed on. Then let's say that you inherited these genetic problems. Before 'sprung,' could the diseases be overcome through healthy lifestyle choices? Or is it an inevitable problem?

 

--Please my ignorance--

[MedGen]

Well for a start it depends on whether the disease is multifactorial (i.e. multiple genes contributing to a single phenotype), or whether it is a simple Mendelian inherited disorder such as Huntingdon's.

 

For multifactorial diseases that have a major genetic component such as familial inherited cancer or heart disease then there is no doubt that what lifestyle you lead will have an impact on the outcome of a genetic disorder, i.e. not a cut and shut case. A lot of the classically single gene disorders have been elucidated and many of the mutations that cause them.

 

Nowadays a lot of research into genetic disease focuses on these multifactorial disease, which because they have a massive environmental component, are much harder to unwravel. So potentially there are ways of avoiding these diseases, but not for certain until all of the factors and pathways involved have been elucidated.

 

Hope that helps answer your quesiton, and don't worry about seeming ignorant, you have come to the right place to ask questions regarding science.

[CharonY]

(i.e. multiple genes contributing to a single phenotype)

I think you mean factors instead of gene?

 

But yes, it depends on what a kind of disease you are thinking of. There is no way that the genetic basis vanishes. But that again reminds me how tricky it is to speak of a genetic disease. Of course sometimes the phenotype are so obvious and deleterious that it is easy to think of them as a disease, but for instance genes that contribute to obesity? These might actually be beneficial under certain, nutrient limited circumstances.

In the latter case obesity can of course be diminished by having a certain diet.

[asaroj27]

If someone has deffective gene. It doesn't mean that he can inherit that particular gene into his/her offspring.but the chances of inheritance is high.it is all depend upon the parents whether one parent has deffective gene or both have the defective gene in case of X linked gene. But in case of Y linked inheritence it is certain that male offspring have the deffective gene.

[Russian Genius]

Well, if its in your genetic code, there is a high chance you will have the disease. However, its not a 100%. Genes can be turned on and off. The environment can certainly turn on a gene and in this case a the disease. Living in a healthy place, with a healthy lifestyle will certainly lower your risk of having the disease. If you are really interested in this, you should go to this site, it has all the recent news about all fields of science. Perhaps you will find some new discovery about how genes turn on and off

 

http://www.sciencenewsnmore.synthasite.com

[Dude]

It depends on the disease. PKU, for example, can be controlled by diet. Cyctic fibrosis, on the other hand, means you are not going to enjoy a long life.

 

What specific genetic disease are you asking about Voltman?