- Do I have adrenal fatigue because of my genetics?
I'm Doctor Carrie Lam, this is Doctor Michael Lam.
We're here to talk about
whether adrenal fatigue syndrome can be passed down
from your parents, from your grandparents.
What do you think?
- Well, what we see, is that first of all no one is born
with perfect genes.
We all have certain defects, okay.
And research has shown that a good 70%
of our eventual exposure to disease, et cetra,
is caused and modulated by lifestyle,
and our diet, and what we do to ourselves.
- That's called epigenetics.
- Correct.
While 30% is pure genetic play,
of course we are now not, we're talking about normal people,
not the people with extremes that are born
with severe genetic defects.
That's a different situation.
But most people who are born normal,
they go through normal life, they have to be able
to expect that, all of us, our genes are not perfect.
Now, of course more genetic testing nowadays are able
to come up and teach us.
For example, now we can test for methylation issues,
and the MTHFR, and so we can spot when genetic defects
much, much earlier today but the big picture is
that still much of it is a lifestyle
and diet driven, and nutritional.
- Right, through a little cheek swab your gonna be able
to see where you're ancestry's from,
what genetic mutations you've had,
cause everyone has the same DNA genome it's just
what has been turned on or turned off or been mutated.
That's what makes every person different.
- Ya, and what we go through to our body,
you mentioned the epigenetics, is so critical
and the research is saying this is that need more
and more critical because what we do to our daily life,
whether it's smoking, stressful,
whether we're an adrenaline junkie,
eventually it does effect our genes because our genes
also can modulate over time.
- So do you think that it is genetic?
Oh, my mom has it so I'm gonna have it.
- Well, I think there's definitely a correlation.
What we do see is a weak mother for example,
will tend to give birth to weak children.
And studies have already shown
that for example a pregnant woman
that has hypothyroid have a tendency
to give rise to kids that are more hypothyroid
than normal and you can actually see with ultrasound
in utero they already have missing eyebrows,
for example, in the later gestational stages.
So, you know, more and more so.
And this actually makes sense, right,
because if you're strong you're gonna give rise
to strong kids, if you're a weak mother you're
gonna give rise to, it's just physiological logical.
But the question is well how do you detect
and when does it show up and this is something
that nobody knows at this point.
Some people it never shows up because they're strong
and for some people you may have very strong grandparents
and you can be weak.
- Right.
- Or you can be very weak and you're strong,
you're parents may be weak as well.
So I think the genetic component is there.
We don't have the hard evidence to say
to what degree at this particular time
because we're dealing with adrenal issues
that is kinda in the gray zone where you feel weak
but your adrenals actually are pathologically okay.
- Right, you mean you can cut it open
and they don't find anything wrong with it.
- Correct, but genetics, I think that the lesson you have
to learn is that it pays for you to have good lifestyle
and nutrition, that way at least you prevent the
undesirable epigenetic plays to come in.
- So lifestyle modifications play a big part
in effecting your genes, so the way you live your life,
making it less stressful, will be able to play positively
in the way you express your genes.
- Ya, and you talk about expression is very important
because just because you have a genetic link does not mean
that you fall apart, is I'm saying.
And even if you fall apart because
of the expression there are ways you can do
to allow the body to self heal
because the body has a built in system to do that, you see.
So the mechanisms are already there
so it's not like it's 100% lost.
Now this is totally extreme.
- So that's a wrap up of how genetics might play
into a part in adrenal fatigue and we hope
that you enjoyed this video.
And we're here to empower you
on your health journey towards recovery.