Dr Sam | Harley Street Online | Natural Health Tre

From the desk of Dr Sam Shohet
BDS MGDS RCS(Eng) LiAc MBAcC ICAK

KNOWING YOUR GENETIC PROFILE COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE 

Survival in a Hostile Soup
I should like to continue from we left off in last month’s blog about the importance of knowing our genetic make up or predisposition, by looking at the single most important process of survival in the hostile soup we call our environment. And I am not only referring to the external environment, I am actually referring more to our internal environment.

Detoxification
Well over 95% of the chemicals we need to make safe and then shift out of our body at any given moment in time through a process called detoxification are made by cellular metabolism. These chemicals are the products of the activities of the various cells of the body such as lungs, heart, digestive tract, kidneys, brain and so on going about their business of keeping us alive and fit to face our everyday existence and survival.

Cytochrome P450
As we already know, genes make proteins we call enzymes and the genes responsible for detoxification code for a group of enzymes called cytochrome P450.  
The process of detoxification takes place in two phases:

Phase 1 is mainly concerned with the conversion of oil based chemicals into water based products which are easier to shift in a body which is mainly water.

Phase 2 is where the resultant water based product is combined with another chemical which acts as a carrier so the product is eventually transported out of the body through the kidneys.

Phase 1 Detoxification - Hydroxylation
As the first phase is all about genes I think it would be worthwhile to try and explain how genes actually work.

Organ Pipes
I like to think of genes as a set of organ pipes which come in various lengths and diameters but they all have one thing in common: they all have caps on or a sort of lid at the end of the pipe which determines the amount of sound that comes out.

Gene Caps and Gene Expression 
If we translate that to genes these caps determine how much data comes out and how much the gene expresses itself. 
The process of detoxification does not only take place in the liver but also in the gut, the heart and even in the brain and the eyes.

A Toxic Product
Sometimes, the process of converting a chemical to become water soluble during the phase 1 process in certain people actually results in a product far worse and more toxic than the original. So much so that it threatens the very life of that individual. This does not mean that there is anything wrong with the genes; it is simply the way that particular chemical/drug is processed by that person.

Paracetamol Reaction
A very common example is a serious reaction to acetaminophen or paracetamol that drives a great many people to the emergency room of a hospital. In fact, apart from trauma, paracetamol reactions are the commonest emergencies in hospitals. And this is not from an overdose but a dose as recommended on the packet for the treatment of pain.

The 4th Biggest Cause of Death
These types of reaction also take place in hospitals and claim thousands of lives every year. In fact, death from drug reactions in hospitals take 4th place after heart disease, cancer and stroke in the tables for cause of death published every year.

Cytochrome P450, Drugs and Chemicals
Drug companies are obliged to divulge the exact set of pipes or genes through which each drug/chemical is metabolised during phase 1 detoxification. Here are a few examples:

Neither a Victim Nor a Statistic Be
For a more complete list I suggest you trawl the internet. Or better still, the next time you are offered a drug, ask to have your cytochrome P450 profile established through genetic testing to make sure you do not become another victim of guesswork or one more statistic. 

With warm regards,

Sam Shohet