April 2006
Destiny Calling
Can you defeat your genes with healthy living?
No one knows what the future holds. But, where our health is concerned, experts are getting ever closer to finding out. The whole notion that our fates are preprogrammed in our genetic makeup is rapidly gaining ground, with many doctors believing that a simple gene test can reveal what’s in store for our bodies 20 or 30 years down the line. By pinpointing genes responsible for various diseases, including the two big killers, cancer and heart disease, doctors can see who is predisposed to the conditions, and who is in for a long, healthy life.
Those for whom “ignorance is bliss” may well wonder why they would want to know that they’re genetically cursed. While doctors admit that a significant change in the public mentality is needed, they are convinced that spotting the mutant genes years in advance is going to be the key to health care of the future. For, once a picture of a patient’s long-term health has been established, it is possible to implement a program of preventative medicine to minimize the chances of the diseases ever occuring. “People are getting older than ever before and this does put a strain on society,” says Dr. Michael Klentze, from the medical council for aging research, whose institute in Munich is leading the way in anti-aging and preventative medicine. “As a result, preventative medicine is the way forward. We can spot, and stop, cancer developing 20 years before it would show on a conventional scan, for example.”
So what exactly does this “preventative” medicine entail? According to Klentze, patients are not going to be popping pills for 20 years on the off-chance the disease should strike. Instead, he favors what he refers to as “health management,” which takes the natural approach—that is, by making changes to the patient’s lifestyle—to increase his or her chances of staying healthy for longer. The key issue here is food. “Around 35 percent of cancer is caused by poor eating habits,” says Klentze. “Our worst enemy is the sugar in processed food. This is clogging up our red blood cells, causing inflammation, which leads to mutating genes.” Not that this is anything new. For years, we’ve all been told to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, cut down on processed food, eat plenty of fatty fish and enjoy the occasional glass of red wine. But such widespread advice, says Klentze, can’t possibly produce optimal results, as we all have such different genetic makeups. Those of us who’ve grown up in northern climates, for example, are probably programmed to function without the benefits of, say, olive oil, which is not native to where we come from. As such, claims Klentze, the Mediterranean diet is by no means the key to long-life for people around the world.
Nutrition aside, the Munich clinic also covers other aspects of lifestyle management, from exercise to stress management and counseling, to sexual therapy. “It’s scientifically proven that people who have a sexually unfulfilled life don’t live as long as those who do,” says Klentze. “The fact that the divorce rate is going up, and a lot of people are finding themselves single in their fifties, is becoming a real health problem.”
Clearly, Klentze and his colleagues can’t promise to find you the perfect partner. But what they can offer is a thorough program of tests—including the initial genetic examination, hormone tests, sonography of your various organs and analysis of bone density—followed by a comprehensive series of health-management consultations and medication if necessary.
As the notion of preventative medicine is still in its early days, the German health insurance schemes have yet to agree to cover treatment costs, which currently range from a couple of hundred to several thousand euros at the Klentze Institut. Perhaps their sticking point has to do with the fact that, while doctor after doctor can tell you to cut out processed foods if you don’t want to die of cancer, the effectiveness of preventative therapies basically comes down to the one thing that money can’t buy—the will power to follow through with them.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Klentze Institut, Am Kosttor 1, Tel. 96 18 99 18
www.anti-aging-med.de
