Semester 4, Week 9, Day 5: Genetic Testing

I sent the current draft of my book to the advisor, Scott today.  I do need a second set of eyes to let me know if it sounds okay as is or should I use first person for my own experiences.  I'm just not sure I'm happy using third person.  My capstone teacher still doesn't understand what I'm doing and the drafts are due next week.  It makes me question if I should write if she can't understand what I'm writing.  She has requested a meeting so I told her to just let me know when she's available.  We shall see how this goes.  Today's focus will be on that essay for Health and Wellness.  I need to pick up that grade since I know I'll take hits on the things that count the most.  I'm actually counting on getting a 70-something on my last interview since I always get penalized for the children. As long as I can keep the other grades up, I think I'll be able to skin by with a low B.  Love and Light!

On to the discussion.  This was a few months ago and some of the information is outdated but that's okay.

"What is your opinion on genetic testing?  If given the opportunity, would you choose to have genetic testing on yourself?  Why or why not?"

Genetic testing.  An interesting topic. The short answer is yes, I would have myself and my children tested if there was a promise the data would remain in my medical records. Frankly, the government already has my DNA from my days in the military and they have my husband’s DNA for the same reason so all the CERN stuff Todd brought up is something I put in the way back of my brain. They could easily do what they want with the samples we provide the military upon entry. The reason is, I am vaccine injured (thanks to the Air Force) and the science says for that to happen, your genes must mutate.

One sign of this mutation is the inability to consume folic acid – as in, it makes you ill. Check.  In fact, both of my children were unable to have commercial formula.  I had to make it while verifying the ingredients of all the things I put in there. The recipe is 14 ingredients. My son could only have 6 of them. My daughter is unable to eat her favorite sausage because it makes her ill. I had her allergy tested and she passed with flying colors. The doc told me to keep doing what I’m doing.  What I’m doing is challenging my children with new foods while staying away from the things I know makes them ill. My daughter CAN eat lettuce but she doesn’t much like it. She also licks the dressing off and puts it back in my bowl…  In addition, soy lectin dries out both of us (we just drink more water) but I only let us get us exposed through chocolate and I limit that. Have you tried to avoid soy in your food?  It’s EVERYWHERE. All salad dressing has it. You find it in places you wouldn’t even think of.

I feel if I could get us genetically tested, I’d have a more complete list of the things we should avoid rather than me having to play Russian roulette. There is also the “how much” question.  If my daughter has ONE mini chocolate bar in a day, there is no problem.  If she has 3, her face breaks out in little bumps. My son doesn’t appear to have this problem. He can’t have ascorbic acid. It turns his stomach. That is not QUITE as hard to avoid as soy but it’s also in a LOT of things. The good thing is I avoid processed foods so it makes it easier to avoid these things. I actually bought raw cocao so if anyone has a good candy bar recipe that I can make at home to avoid the soy, hit me up!

Now, I did see some budding science a few months back that there may be a possibility to reverse the MTHFR mutation. I don’t have the link to the study – it was behind a paywall so I only read the abstract which means I don’t even know if it was a sound study but I like to hope it was.  Another point Todd made is that our genes do change which makes the study plausible to me. We really ARE what we eat. While I was content to eat healthier but still have SOME junk, my children have made me make more adjustments.  I’m still refusing to give up chocolate but the rest is negotiable!

I did a quick search on PubMed looking for one of the many MTHFR and Folic Acid studies and found something else that was very interesting and promising. I’m attaching the link below even though it is only loosely related to this post. They reversed her paralysis symptoms which they said were related to the mutation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30544400

Have a Great Day!