Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/101127
Wellness By Dr. Ben Lynch Tamela Thomas, Wellness Manager tamelat@wac.net 206.464.4639 Hereditary disorder often goes untreated I was talking with a member earlier last year, and she told me about her friend���s teenage daughter who had been plagued with debilitating health issues her whole life and had been recently diagnosed with a genetic mutation referred to as MTHFR. The story had a happy ending���the young lady was being successfully treated and was starting to live a more normal life. After hearing about this, I wanted to know more about MTHFR. I had never heard of it and was fascinated by how this mutation affects so many systems in the body. I wanted to know why this genetic mutation���touching so many people with a vast array of symptoms���isn���t on everyone���s radar, and why MTHFR presents differently in different people. Here to answer many of those questions for all of us is Dr. Ben Lynch. Bringing awareness about this mutation into the medical community and community at large is his life���s work. 30 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | JANUARY 2013 Unveiling a little known but common mutation How a genetic variation wreaks havoc and what you can do to find out if you have it D o you exercise, eat right, take time off, use healthy supplements and still not feel well? If so, you���re not alone. A common genetic mutation could be affecting a critical aspect of your biochemistry and keeping you from functioning at your optimum level. Many with this genetic mutation also experience depression, anxiety, autism, stomach cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, infertility, pregnancy complications, addictive behavior, fibromyalgia, ADD/ADHD, chemical sensitivity, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, pulmonary embolisms, migraines, immune deficiencies, heart attacks, and much more. The genetic mutation in question exists in the gene known as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, known simply as MTHFR. The gene���s function is to produce an enzyme that transforms a form of folic acid into the critically important and highly prevalent form of folate known as l-methyltetrahdrofolate or l-methylfolate.