Your genes are not your fate
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0:00 - 0:02One way to change our genes is to make new ones,
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0:02 - 0:04as Craig Venter has so elegantly shown.
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0:04 - 0:07Another is to change our lifestyles.
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0:07 - 0:11And what we're learning is how powerful and dynamic these changes can be,
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0:11 - 0:14that you don't have to wait very long to see the benefits.
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0:14 - 0:19When you eat healthier, manage stress, exercise and love more,
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0:19 - 0:21your brain actually gets more blood flow and more oxygen.
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0:21 - 0:24But more than that, your brain gets measurably bigger.
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0:24 - 0:26Things that were thought impossible just a few years ago
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0:26 - 0:28can actually be measured now.
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0:28 - 0:31This was figured out by Robin Williams
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0:31 - 0:33a few years before the rest of us.
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0:33 - 0:35Now, there's some things that you can do
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0:35 - 0:38to make your brain grow new brain cells.
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0:38 - 0:40Some of my favorite things, like chocolate and tea, blueberries,
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0:40 - 0:44alcohol in moderation, stress management
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0:44 - 0:46and cannabinoids found in marijuana.
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0:46 - 0:48I'm just the messenger.
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0:49 - 0:52(Laughter)
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0:52 - 0:55What were we just talking about?
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0:55 - 0:57(Laughter)
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0:57 - 0:59And other things that can make it worse,
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0:59 - 1:01that can cause you to lose brain cells.
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1:01 - 1:04The usual suspects, like saturated fat and sugar,
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1:04 - 1:08nicotine, opiates, cocaine, too much alcohol and chronic stress.
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1:08 - 1:11Your skin gets more blood flow when you change your lifestyle,
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1:11 - 1:14so you age less quickly. Your skin doesn't wrinkle as much.
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1:14 - 1:16Your heart gets more blood flow.
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1:16 - 1:18We've shown that you can actually reverse heart disease.
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1:18 - 1:21That these clogged arteries that you see on the upper left,
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1:21 - 1:23after only a year become measurably less clogged.
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1:23 - 1:25And the cardiac PET scan shown on the lower left,
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1:25 - 1:27the blue means no blood flow.
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1:27 - 1:30A year later -- orange and white is maximum blood flow.
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1:30 - 1:33We've shown you may be able to stop and reverse the progression
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1:33 - 1:35of early prostate cancer and, by extension, breast cancer,
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1:35 - 1:37simply by making these changes.
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1:37 - 1:40We've found that tumor growth in vitro was inhibited
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1:40 - 1:4270 percent in the group that made these changes,
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1:42 - 1:45whereas only nine percent in the comparison group.
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1:45 - 1:47These differences were highly significant.
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1:47 - 1:49Even your sexual organs get more blood flow,
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1:49 - 1:51so you increase sexual potency.
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1:51 - 1:53One of the most effective anti-smoking ads was done
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1:53 - 1:55by the Department of Health Services,
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1:55 - 1:57showing that nicotine, which constricts your arteries,
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1:57 - 1:59can cause a heart attack or a stroke,
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1:59 - 2:01but it also causes impotence.
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2:01 - 2:03Half of guys who smoke are impotent.
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2:03 - 2:04How sexy is that?
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2:04 - 2:06Now we're also about to publish a study --
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2:06 - 2:09the first study showing you can change gene expression in men with prostate cancer.
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2:09 - 2:11This is what's called a heat map --
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2:11 - 2:14and the different colors -- and along the side, on the right, are different genes.
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2:14 - 2:17And we found that over 500 genes were favorably changed --
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2:17 - 2:20in effect, turning on the good genes, the disease-preventing genes,
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2:20 - 2:24turning off the disease-promoting genes.
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2:24 - 2:27And so these findings I think are really very powerful,
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2:27 - 2:29giving many people new hope and new choices.
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2:29 - 2:34And companies like Navigenics and DNA Direct and 23andMe,
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2:34 - 2:37that are giving you your genetic profiles,
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2:37 - 2:40are giving some people a sense of, "Gosh, well, what can I do about it?"
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2:40 - 2:43Well, our genes are not our fate, and if we make these changes --
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2:43 - 2:45they're a predisposition -- but if we make bigger changes
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2:45 - 2:47than we might have made otherwise,
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2:47 - 2:50we can actually change how our genes are expressed.
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2:50 - 2:51Thank you.
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2:51 - 2:53(Applause)
- Title:
- Your genes are not your fate
- Speaker:
- Dean Ornish
- Description:
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Dean Ornish shares new research that shows how adopting healthy lifestyle habits can affect a person at a genetic level. For instance, he says, when you live healthier, eat better, exercise and love more, your brain cells actually increase.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 02:53
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