Inherited Diseases

[Guest guest]

I am lucky to have a very detailed genealogy on my mother's side of the

family. It helps me to understand more about how my mother's reduction

in Jing affected me.

 

My great grandmother, born in 1850, was married at 19, had her first

child at 20 and her last child at 42 years of age. In total, she had 11

children. Not all of them lived to adulthood. My grand mother was the

11th child.

 

She was born in 1892, got her Ph.D.. in Physics from the University of

Illinois in the 1920's, and did not marry until in her mid-thirties.

She had six children, including one set of twin boys that were

stillborn. Her sixth and last child was born when she was 40 years of

age. My mother is this sixth child.

 

She was born in 1932, married in 1955, had her first child in September

1955, second child September 1956, third child October 1957, fourth

child March 1959, fifth child January 1962, and her sixth child in

August 1964. I am the sixth child.

 

My mother was 32 years old when she had me. She has said that the first

few years of her marriage are a blur and that she must have been

" insane " . My older sisters told me that at about the time I was born my

mother was very depressed and stayed in bed a lot. They said that they

had to do a lot of the housework because my mom " just didn't care " .

They also say that I am a lot like my mother, not just in appearance,

but by being depressive, sickly, etc.

 

My grand mother had breast cancer and went through a double radical

mastectomy around 1945. She was in remission a long time, but her

cancer came back as lymphoma in late 1969. She died in 1970.

 

My mother had ductile breast cancer in her right breast and had it

removed. She took Tamoxifen for one year, put on 40 pounds, then was

diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Five years after her first mastectomy,

she had ductile breast cancer in her left breast and had it removed.

 

My doctor had me have a baseline mammogram at 35 years of age because of

my family history of breast cancer. When I turned 40, I was told to

have one every year. I have been following up with my sisters to make

sure they get their mammograms, especially now that breast cancer can be

found earlier, treated, and has a better survival rate.

 

My mother, father and brother are Type II diabetics. I am insulin

resistant and often hypoglycemic. Everyone in my family is overweight.

I have been on diet for over a year, have lost 45 pounds, and plan on

losing another 25 to 30 pounds. I know if I keep the weight down I have

a better chance of never developing diabetes. My blood pressure is

usually 90/60 and heart rate about 69. My total cholesterol number is

good, but my lipids are high. This is supposedly because of the poly

cystic ovarian syndrome.

 

I am looking forward to my appointment next week at PCOM. I think any

treatment is a positive step in continuing my journey to health.

 

Karen in San Diego

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , Karen Peterson <kpeterha

wrote:

>

> I am lucky to have a very detailed genealogy on my mother's side of

the

> family. It helps me to understand more about how my mother's

reduction

> in Jing affected me.

 

 

Well, Karen, that is a helluva female family history. While I don't

support doing a crummy gallbladder/liver flush (they sound awful [:- & ]

), I do think if you were to read Julia Chang's site,

www.sensiblehealth.com , you would find it highly educational. There is

brief mention of cystic ovarian syndrome, too. There is a fair bit of

reference to Chinese medicine. The way I interpret Chang's advice, it

seems to be a mix of traditional western naturopathy and traditional

chinese herbology, and modern scientific medical knowledge. I see some

deficiencies in her advice, but, hey, what do I know!

 

In any case, it is the commentary on the functioning of the

liver/hormones/etc., and the story of Chang's dreadful health and her

journey out of it, that I found really interesting.

 

Re all the illness in your near & far ancestors. Men provide half the

living matter that goes into creating a new life, let's not forget that.

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Mrs. Barley,

 

Yes, I know from my Dad's side there is Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis,

diabetes, digestive system disorders, and developmental disorders such

as club feet or having one leg shorter than the other. My Dad had both

hips replaced in the last three years. His legs are very short and one

was longer than the other. My mother used to hem his pants and the

difference was a very noticeable 1/2 inch. After the hips were

replaced, his legs are now the same length.

 

So, is it a fallacy that the leg is shorter? Or, is the leg rotated in

the hip socked and just seems shorter?

 

I was diagnosed with scholiosis at 11 years of age. I was told my left

leg was shorter than the right. I had to wear a lifted shoe on that

foot for a couple of years. I still have the scholiosis, but I wonder,

if I got my hip adjusted, would my leg length be even?

 

I do some beginning Yoga and it helps my low back pain/sciatica. I am

working up to more challenging positions, but must do so at a slow

pace. If I over do, I pay for it the next day.

 

Karen

 

P.S. I had Lasik eye surgery in November 1998. I was very myopic at

-10 and had astigmatisms in both eyes. I couldn't wear my contact

lenses because of allergies and decided to pursue Lasik. It took a few

exams, but I finally found a surgeon who would work on me. TCM equates

myopia with Liver, so I make sure to tell my practitioners that I had

Lasik but still have a myopic shaped eye. The cornea has been shaped to

reset the focus to the correct place on the retina to improve my vision,

but the actual shape of the eye has not changed. KLP

 

Mrs. Barley wrote:

 

> Chinese Traditional Medicine , Karen Peterson <kpeterha

> wrote:

> >

> > I am lucky to have a very detailed genealogy on my mother's side of

> the

> > family. It helps me to understand more about how my mother's

> reduction

> > in Jing affected me.

>

>

> Well, Karen, that is a helluva female family history. While I don't

> support doing a crummy gallbladder/liver flush (they sound awful [:- & ]

> ), I do think if you were to read Julia Chang's site,

> www.sensiblehealth.com , you would find it highly educational. There is

> brief mention of cystic ovarian syndrome, too. There is a fair bit of

> reference to Chinese medicine. The way I interpret Chang's advice, it

> seems to be a mix of traditional western naturopathy and traditional

> chinese herbology, and modern scientific medical knowledge. I see some

> deficiencies in her advice, but, hey, what do I know!

>

> In any case, it is the commentary on the functioning of the

> liver/hormones/etc., and the story of Chang's dreadful health and her

> journey out of it, that I found really interesting.

>

> Re all the illness in your near & far ancestors. Men provide half the

> living matter that goes into creating a new life, let's not forget that.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Re all the illness in your near & far ancestors. Men provide half

the

> living matter that goes into creating a new life, let's not forget

that.

>

 

Please be clear that this is not a matter of placing blame. The

subjects I have recently been discussing about the responsibilities

that women have in being the child bearers is not a political

discussion - I am discussing simple ordinary medical issues. It is

true that we get our genetic material from both parents - but the

major issue I am discussing is the role that a woman's personal

disease patterns play in the development of a child regardless of

what genetic material the embryo has recieved from either her or the

father.

 

A woman who is addicted to cocaine will create a perhaps

insurmountable challenge for a delicate vulnerable embryo. This is

independant from the genetic makeup of the embyro - the genetic

makeup of the developing child will also play a role but this is not

the main issue being discussed. The same is true for women who have

depressive disease or stress disorder that is not genetic in

themselves. If we think of the millions of women who are poisoned by

drugs and foods - who are depressed - over wrought - angry -

freightened - hypofunctional - hypoglycemic - diabetic - overworked -

undernourished - acidic - etc. etc. then the issues become clearer.

 

In most traditional societies the role of the father in conception

was clearly understood but all stated clearly that our mothers are

our real source. We develop in our mothers wombs and our nourishment

to develop comes from our mother's blood - the quality of that blood

will determine our ability to develop in a maximmum way. We may have

relatively good genetics (just as our diseased mother may have

relatively good genetics but has developed disease processes that

have a profound effect on our development) but are challenged from

conception by the same stressors our mother is suffering under.

 

I know that many women are sensitive about this issue but this is a

mistake. There is no one to blame. We have been discussing our

parents and what we have recieved from them genetically - please do

not caste blame on your parents - they are just as innocent of these

things personally as were their parents and their parent's parents.

Genetics are simply no ones fault. This is the way it is! I told

that I recieved genetic disease from my mother - this is in no way

what so ever my mother's fault.

 

Now as far as inherited non gentic disease is concerned this is

something that can be corrected in many cases. I am not blaming the

poor girl who is addicted to cocaine for her falling into the

disease of drug addiction - she was innocent in this matter -

following compulsions far beyond her ability to understand or

control. My point is much more simple - I am just pointing out that

when this poor woman gets pregnant the role of her cocaine addiction

will play a very important role in the development of the child in

and outside of the womb. This is not a social criticism it is a

scientific observation. One can discuss the role that men play in

the stressing of their children - but the physiological processes we

are discussing may have their source in our mother and her disease

patterns - it is important to understand this.

 

The recently discussed issue was how we came to have the severe

breakdowns in functioning that many have - my observation is that we

do this through three major pathways - genetics - disease processes

(with or without genetic components) of our mothers - and

unrelenting and or severe stress that has overwhelmed our abilaties

to cope. For many it is a combination of all three that has ended

them in exhaustion - others may have only two risk factors or maybe

only one - but these are the general pathways. My basic point is

that stress begets stress and if we become 'overstressed' we may

breakdown under the challenges. The children of 'overstressed' women

will also be overstressed - a simple fact - the question is what

must be done about this fact?

[Guest guest]

I took your post (and I hope others do as well) as a wake-up call to

be more supportive of pregnant women and families.

 

What a lot of modern Westerners don't realize is that so-

called " primitive " societies often have more support for pregnant

women and families than modern societies do. Especially in the US

where family members often live hundreds if not thousands of miles

apart and may be spread out all over the US. Many modern European

countries have far more support in place for pregnant women and

families than the US does. The US needs to do more than just give

lip service to supporting families.

 

For the poster who talked about half of the genetic info coming from

the mother and half from the father, actually slightly more than

half comes from the mother in the case of sons. A female is formed

when the mother (XX) passes on one of her two X chromosomes and the

father (XY) passes on his X chromosome. That is 50/50. But in the

case of a son (XY), the father has passed on his Y chromosome.

 

The Y chromosome is smaller than the X chromosome. There are not

spaces on it for some of the genes that are on the X chromosome.

This is why some (not all) genetic disorders are sex-linked.

Conditions like hemophilia and color blindness. The genes

are " recessive " in females but " dominant " in males because there

isn't a second gene in men. Let's say a female gets one normal gene

for blood clotting but the gene from the other parent results in

hemophilia. (I'm simplifying things here quite a bit.) She won't

have hemophilia because that normal gene is dominant and her blood

clots OK (more or less). But she is a carrier of hemophilia.

 

If she passes on the normal gene to a son, his blood will clot OK.

BUT, if she passes on the defective gene he will be a hemophiliac

because there is not a second gene on his Y chromosome which could

overcome the effects of the defective gene on the X chromosome.

 

Hemophilia does occur in women, but it is rare. This is because in

order for a woman to be a hemophiliac she must receive 2 of the

defective genes. One from the X chromosome passed on by her mother,

and one from the X chromosome passed on by her father. Since male

hemophiliacs often don't live to produce children or don't marry or

try to reproduce, they aren't passing on the defective gene to

daughters. And the fact that this gene is " recessive " (takes two to

manifest in women), the chances of a woman who is a carrier passing

on the defective gene and a father who is a hemophiliac passing on

the gene to a daughter are slim.

 

I also want to point out that some genetic " flaws " have survived

because they do something positive. The best known example of this

is the gene for sickle cell anemia. It too is a " recessive " gene

(takes two to manifest full-blown sicle cell anemia). (Again I'm

simplifying things quite a bit here.) But it's not sex-linked. Both

the male and the female will each pass on this particular gene to

both sons and daughters. The reason this particular gene is so

prevalent is that when a person only has one of these genes, the

person has an increased resistence to malaria. People in tropical

areas with an increased resistence to malaria tend to live longer

and thus produce more children, and at least part of these children

inherit the gene for the trait. The children who received one gene

for the trait but not 2 also tend to live longer and thus have more

children.

 

Like Vinod, I want to caution readers that this is not a case of it

being the mother's fault. These are things that simply are. One can

no more blame women than blame a higher power and/or evolution. But

if anyone still is tempted to blame the woman, consider this: It is

the father who determines the sex of the child. If he passes on his

X chromosome, the child will be a daughter(XX). If he passes on his

Y chromosome, the child will be a son (XY).

 

Again, I see this as a wake-up call for the need to be more

supportive of pregnant women and families.