November generally makes us think of changing seasons and time with loved ones.  How fitting than that November is also National Alzheimer’s Month, a time for us to celebrate and pay tribute to those in our lives effected by Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is a tragic neurological condition that affects many of our family members, friends, parents and grandparents. An estimated five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. For every individual with Alzheimer’s, an entire community works to support them in their daily lives.

Alzheimer’s disease is marked by loss of memory, speech, judgment, sense of direction and other brain functions. While currently no cure exists, three risk factors play an important role in your susceptibility.

The first is age: Alzheimer’s onset is generally after the age of 65, and by age 80 the risk for developing Alzheimer’s is nearly 50 percent.

The second is family history. Having close biological relatives with Alzheimer’s increases your risk. The last factor is genetic makeup. One gene strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease is APOE. This gene comes in three variants, and one of these variants, APOE4, is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. Currently, the Navigenics Health Compass genetic testing service can measure your genetic risk for Alzheimer’s by detecting whether you carry any copies of APOE4, and if so, how many.

Knowing your risk for Alzheimer’s and taking preventative measures can help you reduce your risks. Several important medical studies, for example, have shown that improved weight management and physical fitness reduce Alzheimer’s risk, including recent research that links stronger muscles to reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. Should you choose to enroll in the Navigenics service, our Genetic Counselors can help you interpret your risk and work with you and your doctor to create a risk reduction plan that works for you. 

At Navigenics, our team is used to being recognized in the fields of genetics and medicine. But being described as “hot”? That turf is, well, a little less familiar to most of us in the genetics world. So imagine our attentiveness when San Francisco-based magazine “7x7” revealed one of its most anticipated features of the year today – the “2009 Hot 20 under 40.” Among the publication’s list of the “most impressive San Franciscans:” Navigenics Chief Operating Officer Sean George, who was photographed with his 2-year-old daughter, Claire.

George, who has a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, was profiled alongside the likes of San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum and Ning co-founder Gina Bianchini, to name a few.

“What’s ‘hot’?” the 7x7 editors mused in describing their selections. “A pitcher with a killer arm, tech wizards bringing Wi-Fi to the world or a gender-bending performance artist? One thing’s for sure: Everyone below is under 40 and has a sense of self that belies their years. We’re just lucky enough to benefit from it.”

George, who has patiently endured some good-natured teasing from the rest of us, has been an integral part of the Navigenics executive team, helping the company to expand our comprehensive genetic testing services. Our type of genetic testing reveals an individual’s genetic predisposition for important diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes and several cancers, enabling people to work with their physician to take steps to prevent disease, detect it early, or lessen its impact.

“Our customers are interested in long-term health, and I’d say that having Claire definitely makes me think more about sticking around for another 50 years,” said George, who came to Navigenics from Affymetrix, a pioneer in genetic analysis.

Heather Hartel, a 7x7 writer, decided to try genetic testing herself, and shares her experiences with the Navigenics services in a separate article titled “The Future is Now, Thanks to Navigenics.”

Calling our genetic test “an insightful tool that was well worth the price,” Hartel remarked that she felt like a “kid on Christmas morning” when it came time to view her genetic test results. She spoke with a Navigenics genetic counselor about lifestyle changes she can make to reduce her overall risk of disease.

7x7 readers can take advantage of an exclusive offer and get tested by Navigenics for $499 (a savings of $500). Just order by Nov. 30, 2009, and use the code 7x72009 when ordering.

Photo credit: 7x7, http://www.7x7.com/

More than 40 percent of all breast cancer cases could be prevented through basic lifestyle changes, a sweeping new report shows.

Although many women have long feared they are destined to develop breast cancer – one of the leading causes of death among American women – getting exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol consumption and breastfeeding their children can protect many women from this common disease, the analysis determined.

The potential benefit is staggering. In all, more than 70,000 U.S. breast cancer cases could be avoided every year, determined researchers at the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund, which published the report.

“This study represents the clearest picture we have ever had on how lifestyle affects a woman’s risk of breast cancer,” said Dr. Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for the organizations, in a written statement. “We are now more certain than ever that by maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active and limiting the amount of alcohol they drink, women can dramatically reduce their risk.”

The report is considered the largest review of the link between breast cancer and lifestyle, analyzing more than 950 research studies and taking years to draft.

Women in North America have the highest rate of breast cancer in the world, with more than 180,000 new cases diagnosed every year. To reduce your risk of breast cancer, the organizations recommend:

• Being “as lean as possible” – without becoming underweight
• Exercising at least 30 minutes per day
• Limiting alcohol consumption to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men
• Exclusively breastfeeding babies for their first six months of life

A Navigenics genetic test can help you determine whether you are at increased genetic risk for breast cancer and many other common diseases. Knowing that you are genetically predisposed to a health condition can be very motivating, giving you the impetus to make lifestyle changes you’ve been wanting to make for years.

Learn more.

Celiac disease, a serious digestive condition, is common in more ways than one – in how often it occurs, and how often it goes undiagnosed. The prevalence of the disease has increased significantly in the United States during the last 50 years, researchers at the Mayo Clinic recently determined.

“Some studies have suggested that for every person who has been diagnosed with celiac disease, there are likely 30 more who have it but are not diagnosed,” said Mayo gastroenterologist Dr. Joseph Murray in a written release. “And given the nearly quadrupled mortality risk for silent celiac disease we have shown in our study, getting more patients and health professionals to consider the possibility of celiac disease is important.”

Yet, among most of us, celiac disease is rarely discussed during checkups and isn’t a part of routine health screenings.

Surveys show that only 35 percent of primary care physicians in the United States have ever diagnosed the condition, which can cause cancer, neurological disorders, malnutrition and bone density problems if left untreated. People whose celiac disease goes unnoticed, in fact, have a nearly 4-fold increased risk of death, research indicates.

The problem is only expected to get worse, as “until recently, the standard approach to finding celiac disease has been to wait for people to complain of symptoms and to come to the doctor for investigation,” Murray said. “This study suggests that we may need to consider looking for celiac disease in the general population, more like we do in testing for cholesterol or blood pressure.”

Since celiac disease has a genetic component, understanding your DNA can help in this assessment. Knowing from a Navigenics genetic test that you have a genetic predisposition for the condition can make you more alert to the symptoms of celiac disease and assist your doctor in knowing when to test further for it.

Early diagnosis and subsequent dietary changes can make a world of difference. As one doctor, who only realized that he himself had celiac disease after a Navigenics genetic test, said, “It is amazing to me, at the age of 52 years, and being a physician, that my diagnosis and treatment was possible only because of your DNA test.”

At Navigenics, we join our colleagues in the genetics, health, and life science worlds in honoring the life of Senator Ted Kennedy.

The senator was not only a tireless advocate for health issues, but a leader who embraced health innovation. Years ago, he recognized the growing importance of genetic technologies in our lives, and worked to help pass one of the most important recent laws protecting our genetic information, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimation Act, or GINA.

GINA “opens a new frontier in medicine in which we read the genetic make up of patients to stop diseases before they even happen,” Kennedy said when GINA became law in 2008.  “This legislation opens the door to modern medical progress for millions and millions of Americans… It’s the first civil rights bill of the new century of the life sciences.  With its passage, we take a quantum leap forward in preserving the value of new genetic technology and protecting the basic rights of every American.”

To learn more about Senator Kennedy’s work on genetics and other aspects of health, visit his Senate website. You can learn more about GINA, just one part of Kennedy’s legacy, from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Photo credit: The website of Edward M. Kennedy, United States Senator for Massachusetts, http://kennedy.senate.gov/

Atkins. Ornish. Weight Watchers. South Beach. The Zone.

As a physician, I’m often asked which diet works best.

Carbs or protein? Liquid only? A “cleanse” diet?  Mediterranean? Grapefruit only?

Many people want to know whether any of them even work at all.

Scientific research has been focusing more and more on weight loss, as a record number of Americans – more than one-third of adults – can now be considered clinically obese. Evidence shows that you can lose weight on some of the popular diet programs.

Which ones?

It may not matter as much as you think.

In one respected comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone diets, researchers found that dieters had lost, on average, 6.4 pounds over the course of a year. But how well dieters did depended not so much on the specific diet or types of foods they ate, but on whether they were actually able to stick with the diet plan.

The dropout rate for each of the diets was very high, with half of those on the Atkins and Ornish diets giving up before the 12-month mark, and one-third of those on the Weight Watchers or Zone diets quitting by then.
“The good news about this study is that we have demonstrated that all these diets work,” said lead researcher Dr. Michael L. Dansinger in an interview with Medscape. “That means that physicians can work with patients to select the diet that is best suited to the patient. For example, if you have a patient who likes meat, it is unlikely that he or she will comply with the Ornish diet.”

A recent study had similar findings. Overweight adults who reduced their intake of calories lost an average of 7 percent of their initial body weight within a year. It didn’t matter whether their diet was higher in protein or higher in carbs, the study determined. “Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize,” the researchers concluded.

So it’s being consistent and eating less that matters, rather than the details of what you eat.

Making an effort to lose extra pounds and keep them off for good can pay big dividends. Obesity has been linked to high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke, and even increases your risk of developing certain cancers.
Do you have a genetic predisposition for obesity? A Navigenics genetic test can help you determine your genetic risk levels for obesity, as well as for compounding conditions such as diabetes and heart attack. Learn more.