Louise H Connolly MD
A different kind of medical practice
310 372-4706
Biohacking 101
This is the coming thing.
This will revolutionize and change medicine.
This is the deepest sinkhole I have ever encountered.
This will ultimately be a job meant for sophisticated computers
and us together.
This is “Haking into Your Biology”.
In a way, even the simplest blood test is a form of biohacking. But then, even that little blood test is not so simple. Take a fasting glucose test. If it is elevated, you are about to get diabetes, right? Well, maybe not. Have you ever heard of white coat hypertension? The doctor’s white coat stresses you out so your blood pressure goes up. Well, it’s the same with glucose. Maybe he is a sincere wonderful guy but he hates diabetes and puts a lot of people on medications to prevent it. His staff is going to weigh you (oh no!), take your blood for a fasting glucose level, and more. So your fasting cortisol goes up because you are stressed. And stress (cortisol) raises your sugar level, no matter how efficient your pancreas is. So….. viola! White coat hyperglycemia, biohacking at its simplest, a total sinkhole.
Enter the Era of the Genetic Code. We did it. We’ve made it cheap. Now we are trying to understand it. Have I played here? Of course! I love biochemistry. And I’m a lady with a lifelong struggle with her weight, old enough to be keenly interested in learning my own genetic weaknesses and protecting myself.
Is our genetic code the end? No way. Let’s look at your metabolome. What? Let’s look at the multiple populations that live within and without you. They vastly outnumber the cells in our bodies stamped with our DNA.
I am talking about the composition of your gut microflora, their cousins your vaginal microflora. And then there are your lung microflora, your skin, your mouth and more. Together they make you, an entity which interacts with the world around you.
Now let’s consider epigenetics. This is a fancy word for “environment”. Your DNA folds or unfolds in response to it’s perception of the environment. Thus, if you clone an animal, and raise it differently the second time, it will look completely different. It’s the old “nature and nurture” another time around. But your increasingly available genetics do hold tantalizing clues which can help you navigate your way to better health. And your epigenetics are coming into reach.
Then there is the environment in which your epigenetics are immersed. But enough, this is just an introduction. You are welcome to come along and play. Your DNA holds some fascinating secrets that may unlock your biggest problems. Why not take a peak?
