GIX (additional information)

As a reminder, GIX stands for Gesundheitsindex (= health index). It indicates the health status and the health potential of an individual and how much of that is currently being exploited.

What is GIX based on?

The GIX refers to deficiencies that are measured and weighted. These deficiencies are weighted in accordance with genetic data.

There is namely a big difference whether an individual is low on calcium, for example, and additionally has a genetic predisposition to osteoporosis. In such a case, the calcium deficiency would obviously be weighted more heavily than if the genetic predisposition were not present. Consequently, a low calcium level does not always constitute a calcium deficiency. Here is another example: when a woman has an adverse estrogen level and at the same time a genetic predisposition to breast cancer, her estrogen level will then of course be weighted and evaluated differently.

Likewise, not all vitamin deficiencies are the same, because it all depends on your genes.

Sustainable health

Anyone looking to stay healthy, vital and slim should ask themselves on a daily basis: “What did I do for my health today?” We have to ask ourselves that question every day, because we need to do something about it on a daily basis. Good health does not come about by chance but is something we have to work hard for. The notion that “it won’t ever happen to me” is like sticking your head in the sand. It is counterproductive, even though it may seem like a comforting thought. Eventually, our genetic predisposition will be activated and then something really will happen to us. Consequently, we need to remember that health is an ongoing project, a project that lasts our whole lifetime and therefore requires us to take action every day. So the key question is: “What should I do each day?” And there are lots of great ideas that we have picked up over the last few decades. Many of them work. But equally, for some people they don’t. But we can eliminate the apparent random nature of this by identifying our genetic predispositions using a genetic test.

The pleiotropic genes

If we understand how we function genetically, it is relatively easy to stay healthy. In previous articles, I have written that the genes decide how we should nourish our bodies. Which foods are good for us and which put us at risk. What sporting activities should we engage in, and so on.

A gene determines only one particular characteristic. But there are also genes – they are called pleiotropic – that have multiple characteristics. That is, a gene decides on several characteristics. It is relatively difficult for us to discover what is important in such a pleiotropic gene. The really fascinating thing is that these characteristics can also be diametrically opposed. A gene may have a very positive influence, for example in protecting against the development of dementia, but at the same time it may still pose a risk because of the presence of a complicating issue. Thus, a gene may be both positive and negative at the same time.

Psychogenetics

We have traditionally been given to believe that acquired characteristics cannot be passed on to our offspring, that we have – as it were – picked them up along the way. This has now been disproved by psychogenetics. According to this new science, in particular a study published by the University of Medford in the USA, things we experience in our lives and thus learn from can be directly bequeathed to the next generation. This can also be demonstrated by means of a gene analysis.

Epigenetics

As long as we know our genes, we need have no worries about our health. A truly modern sensation is the science of epigenetics, a recognition of the fact that, alongside the normal DNA sequence, our genes also change with age.

It is an outcome of the way we lead our lives, i.e. our lifestyle affects the state of a gene. This is what we mean by epigenetics. And we have now reached a situation where we are able to cure complex diseases, because we can develop drugs based on the state of the gene. This is made possible by so-called epigenetic analyses.

GIX (Health Index)

GIX is a scoring system which indicates the overall health of a human being. It is one of three global systems. However, GIX is the only one which takes into account genetic predisposition. An individual’s GIX displays his or her maximum health potential. We have all of us lived to the age we are, and there are certainly things that can no longer be fixed and therefore exhibit no further potential. Our GIX shows exactly what percentage of our maximum health potential we are currently exploiting. But it also shows accurately the changes that have taken place over the years and where there is untapped potential.

Acute medicine ./. Preventive Medicine

In Europe and America, we are relatively well off in terms of provision for acute complaints, i.e. the treatment of diseases. But the picture is not so rosy when it comes to preventive medicine – making sure that diseases do not arise in the first place. In optimum circumstances, preventive medicine works as follows:

Prevention is of course at its most effective when it is personalized. And it has to be said, that it will only work properly in such circumstances, namely by taking our natural predispositions into account. That course of action makes the most sense because it is via our own genetic predisposition that we can find an approach that is right for us individually. This approach involves a DNA test which reveals our genetic predisposition, enabling us to recognize diseases before they strike based on our individual profile and to take the appropriate prophylactic measures.

Anti-aging intervention

Surveys have clearly shown that our biggest concern when we reach the midway point in our lives is aging. Not unemployment or poverty. Not the rise in violent crime, nor even the chance of being involved in a crippling accident. What makes us most afraid is aging. The symptoms are:

• Poor eyesight
• Hearing loss
• Bone loss
• Impotence
• Muscle weakness
• Declining vitality
• Memory problems
• Lack of independence
• Becoming bedridden
• All this and more...
• ... these are the unmistakable signs of aging. Unmistakable certainly, but are they also inevitable?

When the history of the 21st century eventually comes to be written, what will they say was the most significant achievement of our era? Together with an increasing number of scientists, I believe that they will say anti-aging intervention. By which we mean the ability to directly affect the aging process. The big question is, which results from all the research on aging can already be implemented in practice? I’m not just talking about the theory or what might happen in a few years’ time, but about the here and now.

I would like to keep you informed about this in my blog. I’ll spare you from recycling the allegedly latest scientific findings which somehow inevitably lead to the same expert conclusion: do exercise, don’t smoke, eat a balanced diet; meanwhile, everything else is some way off in the future.

That is not true.

It is already possible to achieve personalized and individualized health prevention today. And effectively so, taking genetic predisposition into account. I’ll tell you more about this in my next blog posts.

The maintenance of good health

With our genetic testing method, we are committed to the maintenance of good health.

The philosophy behind this is comparable to the traditional Chinese philosophy. Even now in modern China, a patient will pay his doctor only as long as he remains healthy. In our Western system, it is exactly the reverse. We pay for diseases, not for health. We only go to the doctor when we are sick. In the West, everything revolves around disease, so that instead of a health service we have an illness service. Conventional medicine is designed for the treatment of disease and not for the maintenance of health. Medical students are also taught this approach: first comes the diagnosis, then the therapy and the healing. At best, they are taught to look for early symptoms. But even this is only about detecting a disease when it is already present. Because even if it is detected early, it is already there.

With modern genetic testing, we can apply the Chinese philosophy on a sound scientific basis, using advanced medical techniques. That’s why we are confident in claiming that our customers will not become ill – except perhaps for flu or something similar. This is because of our preventive approach to illness.

News from the world of genes

There really are new insights into our genetic variants on an almost weekly basis. We all have different gene variants on certain DNA segments that determine which foods keep our weight down and which make us sick. There are millions of gene variants and, according to Science, the world’s most prestigious scientific journal, the discovery of this unexpectedly large variation in the human genome was the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2007, i.e. even more significant than the findings made in nanotechnology, aerospace and other hi-tech fields that year.

The latest discoveries of gene variants include the MHC genes. They determine body odors and powers of sexual attraction. A Boston company actually offers a professional dating service based on an analysis of this gene segment. Initial studies confirm that people have a clear preference for a partner with certain MHC genes.

Why is a gene check necessary for a healthy life?

Never before has the human race been able to access so much information about:

nutrition
health
sport and
relaxation

as today. At the same time, there have never before been so many people suffering from:

obesity
osteoporosis
heart disease
cancer

So-called adult-onset diabetes is now common, even among twenty-year-olds. The youngest diabetes patient in Germany is aged just five. The various forms of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease, are reaching epidemic levels.
The campaign to educate people has therefore not achieved much.
It is true that many people try to live a healthy life and that information about nutrition, health and sport is generally correct. However, only for a proportion of the population. Because people are genetically individual, it makes no sense for us all to live in a uniform manner. What is healthy for one may be really harmful for another. This applies in particular to diet. The attempt to promote one particular lifestyle as being healthy for all has ultimately been shown to be futile.
Instead, it is more important for the individual to know about his or her genetic predisposition. To accept that we are much more individual than we believed a few years ago. We have long believed that we may be different on the outside but not on the inside. Yet the impact made by our eating habits is different for each person.

Genetic stress profile

Primarily, we are talking about the techniques by which each person can reduce his or her stress levels. This is different for each person. It includes – but is not limited to – the reduction of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a kind of warning hormone, which is why it has been partly responsible for the survival of the human species. When danger is detected or there are sudden challenges to be faced, cortisol activates all the sense organs and infuses our muscles with blood, thus enabling us to be totally alert. Ideally, though, this condition should be of only short-term duration. If we are in a state of permanent stress and unable to reduce our cortisol levels, this will ultimately lead to

burnout
depression
insomnia
fatigue

Reduction in the level of the stress hormone cortisol is different for each individual person. Depending on the gene variant, it may be appropriate to engage in a short but intensive burst of sport. For others, however, this would only exacerbate the situation; they would benefit more from mental techniques such as yoga, Reiki and autogenous training. Then there are the types in between. For example, many people manage to reduce their stress levels with the more leisurely sporting activity of golf, in which mental concentration is also required. Jogging or walking are also appropriate forms of relaxation for this type of individual.

The genetic exercise profile

Not every sport is equally beneficial for everyone. It would be wrong to assert that one particular sport is healthy for all. On the contrary, because of genetic profile, certain forms of exercise may even be counterproductive.
For example, if the genetic health profile shows up a susceptibility to osteoporosis, any sport that goes too easy on the joints makes no sense at all, as it would do nothing to arrest loss of bone density.

jogging
walking
trampolining

are the appropriate choices. Or, something that I have recommended to many of my clients: Vibration Training. It is possible to increase bone density, as scientific research has recently proven.