| Genes & Environment | ||
The choices you make play an important role in your health and your family's health. The foods you eat, your level of physical activity, and other choices like not smoking and taking a daily multivitamin with folic acid have an impact on how healthy you are. If you have a family history of chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease, your choices may be especially important in helping to delay or prevent the onset of such conditions. Click on the information below to learn more! Smoking and Lung Cancer- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women across the United States. Lung cancer claimed the lives of 5,822 Michigan residents in 2004. There are several risk factors for lung cancer such as family history, a diet low in fruits and vegetables and air pollution, but 80-90% of all lung cancers are due to smoking. For more information on lung cancer visit:
Folic Acid and Birth Defects: Folic Acid is a B-vitamin found in most multivitamins and some foods that helps your body stay healthy. It is important for healthy cell division that happens every day, like replacing skin cells. Folic Acid also reduces the rate of neural tube defects, like spina bifida, by up to 70%. Everyone should take 400 mcg of folic acid, but if you are a woman of childbearing age (16-45) it is especially important that you get 400 mcg of folic acid every day before becoming pregnant. Your baby will thank you! For more information on folic acid click here. Type
2 Diabetes: In 2004,
Diabetes was the 6th
leading cause of death for Michigan residents. Type 2
diabetes accounts for a majority of the diabetes cases. It
is a condition that is multifactorial in nature- that is, many
different factors play a role in the development of type 2
diabetes. These include family health history and the
choices people make. For more information on Type 2 diabetes
go to: Diet plays an important role in type 2 diabetes. The foods you eat affect genes differently and individual genetic differences affect the way a person's body responds to food. This is called nutritional genomics or nutrigenomics. |
