Many people feel that certain conditions like bad knees, bone loss, headaches, or frozen shoulders seem to run in their families. Remarks like “I have low back pain but my mother always had it too” or “I think I must’ve got my migraines from my father” are common to hear from clients. There was even an instance where the only child of a couple who limped spontaneously developed a similar kind of limp to his father as he got into his mid teens.
Looking at these patterns would lead one to believe that structural issues resulting in a myriad of painful symptoms and gait problems in a person, can indeed be inherited. The reason for this type of belief is threefold and comes from:
- a sheer lack of understanding of how genetic traits are passed down through generations,
- how epigenetics relieves you from the burden of genetic inheritance, and
- how lifestyle habits can mold your structural health more than all genetic factors combined.
What is genetics
Heredity has been a common observation among all world cultures for a millennia. It’s generally understood and accepted that children inherit certain traits form their parents. In the 19th century Gregor Mendel formally studied this transfer of familial traits via the discrete “units of inheritance,” later referred to as a gene.
Genetics is an area of science concerned with the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms. In current times, this field of biology has evolved into a number of subfields, including molecular genetics, epigenetics, and population genetics.1Wikipedia reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetics
How does inheritance work
An offspring receives two copies of genes – one from the mother and another from the father. These genes carry the instructions that tell various cells in your body how to function and grow. Cells are the building blocks that work together to form various tissues and organs in the body. How a cell functions impacts the overall body determining both its structure, meaning how well it’s formed, and function, dictating how well it works.
If father has a weakened cardiovascular system, for example, there’s a 50% chance that the offspring would have a weak cardiovascular system as well. A person whose mother had liver disease likely would have a weak liver making them susceptible to liver-related issues. Whether these persons actually develop these issues will depend on if they inherited the specific genes that would direct the development of weak organs or not.
If they do indeed inherit the weak traits, they would become predisposed to the diseases their parents or ancestors had. However, this predisposition can be made better or worse by the conditions the child is reared in. And that’s where the science of epigenetics comes in.
Role of Epigenetics
Our genes are arranged in structures called chromosomes whose copies are found in each cell. These chromosomes are made up of DNA which is a special code in which the instructions within your genes are written. A set of instructions in a part of a body or overall genetic makeup is called genotype.
Epigenetics is the study of changes in observable characteristics like eye color or nose-shape, that are independent of alterations in the DNA sequences within the genotype. The Greek prefix epi in epigenetics indicates features that are “on top of” or “in addition to” the traditional genetic basis for inheritance.2Wikipedia reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics
Epigenetics involves changes that affect gene activity and expression regardless of the DNA sequences. These changes may result from environmental factors or part of a normal development. One great example of normal development is how an embryo grows from a single-celled fertilized egg called the zygote.
The zygote undergoes many rapid cell divisions forming various layers that eventually become different parts of the body. During this process the daughter cells change into different cell types like neurons, muscle cells, bones, blood vessels, etc. That occurs because the organism activates some genes while inhibiting the expression of others to form various types of cells.3Wikipedia reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryo
How Epigenetics can affect health
For an example of how environmental factors can affect the characteristics of the offspring, consider two genetically identical corn stalks. The one grown in an arid climate will be half in size of the one grown in the temperate climate due to lack of water and nutrients in its environment.
Likewise, how the health of an individual shapes up as they grow from a child to an adult depends largely on their environmental factors like diet and lifestyle over and above genetic predispositions. This is seen in identical twins who begin to look different as they age when their diet and lifestyle are different enough from each others’.
This also means that if you are genetically predisposed to have diabetes or heart attack, you can prevent it from ever occurring by maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle. Not only that, the positive epigenetic changes are even transmitted to your children through the process called transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.4Wikipedia reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenerational_epigenetic_inheritance
What are structural problems
When referring to health challenges within the realm of structural care, we are calling on two distinct losses: structural strength and mechanical leverage. The former depends on how well the tissue in question is nutritionally nourished and the latter is indicative of the nature of mechanical injuries which the body has incurred.
Structural strength
Lack of strength in the bones, for example, could be due to deficiency of calcium in its tissue. That could have its roots in a diet poor in calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, or K. Or it could be due to malabsorption of one or more of these nutrients. It could also be due to structural stress causing an area of a weight-bearing bone to lose calcium, forming a bowing effect in that part of the body also called scoliosis. This bowing often happens in the spine but can also occur in the bones of the legs like in the case of rickets.
Mechanical leverage
A body can receive a trauma such that it causes one or more of its bones to move in a direction from which they can’t be self-corrected. This most commonly occurs in the vertebrae of the spine and when it does, the body loses its optimum mechanical leverage and is forced to compensate.
Depending on the nature of an injury, this compensation may involve shifting other bones and/or engaging muscles and other tissues to achieve the best mechanical leverage possible. The body remains in this state for as long as those bones remain displaced, causing symptoms varying from pain to neurological problems.
How structural problems run in families
Structural issues for which lack of tissue strength is responsible may occur due to poor dietary choices and/or stressful living conditions. Those arising from bone displacements may occur due to accidents or work or sports-related injuries. Nevertheless, there’s almost certainly an environmental factor associated with them.
The extent to which structural abnormalities are inherited lies in the mineral content of various tissues in the body. And that can be changed by addressing the cause of the nutritional deficiencies. If a parents maintain a diet and lifestyle pattern that would ensure loss of calcium from the body resulting in weak bone tissue, it may lead to genetic changes that might get transmitted to their children.
Even though it may seem as if the children would inherit the fate of scoliosis or osteoporosis like their parents, they can revert this pattern by adopting a healthier lifestyle. Not only that, they will transfer the new genetic pattern to their future generations.
Similarly, many injuries that lead to a compromise in a body’s mechanical integrity may lie in the lifestyle habits. This may relate to certain sports that parents and grandparents were involved in. Perhaps, a specific occupation within the family business. Maybe a specific recliner or other furniture that got handed down through generations. It’s possible that participation in those particular types of work or sporting activities or even use of certain furniture could be causing issues that may seemingly be “running in the family.”
Summary
Structural issues may be caused due to deficiencies or due to accidents. Deficiencies can be met by supplementing and injuries do not pass down through generations. Dietary preferences and lifestyle habits run in families more than diseases themselves do. Most inheritable factors that could trap a family in a viscous pattern of illnesses can be overcome by making wholesome lifestyle choices. That’s what the field of epigenetics teaches us.
Sometimes what seems like a structural issue could just be a habit stemming from a need to be accepted or conform. Take the case of the teenage kid described earlier, for example. Although both of his parents had had accidents causing the mother to be on crutches and father to have a limp, this boy had no reason in my knowledge, to be limping. But he most certainly did. Not when he was younger but as he got into his mid to late teens. Children like to follow in the lead of their role model to the extent of wanting to become like them. I feel that was the reason for his limping, not an actual injury necessarily.
To summarize, regardless of whether one feels that their structural defect runs in their family or not, the fact of the matter is that their issue can most likely be corrected. Depending on the nature of the problem – if it’s a lack of structural strength or mechanical leverage or both – the person may need a combination of Advanced BioStructural Correction™, EndoNasal Cranial Correction™, and mineral supplementation. However, most cases can be resolved naturally, effectively, and consistently with results that last and significantly improve the quality of life along with the issue in question.
Most importantly, these solutions bring into one’s awareness the lifestyle improvements that could forever change the entire pattern of inheritance, for the betterment of future generations – both for individuals and the society as a whole.
