Genes Influence, But They Don’t Define Your Health

Introduction to Mold, Mycotoxins, and Genetics 0:00

Welcome to Mold and Mycotoxins and Chronic Illness Summit. I'm your host Dr. Ann Shippy today. I want to share a case with you that will help to explain some of the genetic susceptibility. There's a lot of research that shows that HLA genes are important and that about 25% of people have HLA genes that increase their risk for how their bodies handle mycotoxins

Case of a Teen with Severe Tics 0:31

But there's so much more, and that's why I've included several lectures and conversations on the genetics, because sometimes it can be super helpful to figure out how to get well and stay well. This patient that I want to share with you is one of my earliest patients that were dramatically impacted by mold. Then the it was a 14 year old boy and his mom had heard or heard that I was a good detective and really figuring out so complicated situations. So the patient is 14 years old and he was having these facial contortions is a type of tic that so distorted his face that he had stopped going to school, he had stopped even having friends over.

He didn't want anybody to see him because he was just felt so disfigured.

Suspecting Mold Exposure in the Home 1:24

So when I was going through the history, the mom had told me that they were living in an old farmhouse, that had been remodeled and and also that the daughter was having some issues as well. And so I was really, really suspicious about mold. I'm going to share my screen here because I didn't I couldn't think of anything else that would really cause that severe of neurological condition and so on. So young. So what I got one of the early tests that I did was to check to see what a spike or toxin levels were.

Initial Mycotoxin Testing Results 2:06

So we did a real time lab test and this is before I knew about it, clear that I can challenge and actually help me to figure this out so he had basically no ochratoxin, no aflatoxin and trace amount of trick off the scene. But not enough to be alarming. So another piece of the testing that I really wanted to look at because this situation wanted to take a look at some of his detox genes. So this was a test that we could do at the time that looked at the first part of detoxification. So these cytochrome P450 genes are involved in helping to get rid of all kinds of toxins, but especially this

Detox and Methylation Gene Findings 2:51

CYP1B1 that is and it has a sniff and it really helps to get the process started with getting the toxin ready to clear out of the body. He also had a double whammy on polymorphisms or teaching, which is super important for methylation, which is also another really important piece of being able to get toxins out of the body. But his glutathione pathways, which are critical for getting mycotoxins the rest of the way out of the body, making the transformations enough in the mycotoxins for them to be able to even leave looked totally broken there.

It really was alarming to see every piece of the glutathione pathway that I could could look at. So to me, this I knew he was going to be massively good if I am deficient. So we rechecked him. His climate, his toxin levels with the glutathione challenge.

Glutathione Challenge Reveals Hidden Toxic Load 3:51

So I had him take eight teaspoons of glutathione. Also pretty whopping dose. And wo and behold his, his ochra toxin popped up all the way to 13.55. Still no aflatoxin, which was great. And then also a very significant level strike off the seeds appointed to see the difference between ochratoxin. and aflatoxin It's like that degree of pepper. So trichothecene are so much more potent, especially neurologically. And for our our mitochondrial dysfunction. So even seeing the point to to the court, the scenes was alarming.

So I knew he had had a build massive buildup because he wasn't excreting the toxins, the mycotoxins probably including a lot of other toxins as well, because he was so glutathione deficient for probably most of his life or all of this life.

Recovery After Leaving the Moldy Environment 4:46

So we worked on getting his gratifying levels up. We took four teaspoons every day, which normally in most people a teaspoon is more than adequate. And within two months of getting him out of the environment, he went and stayed with his grandparents and not take took the glutathione and some other supplements to help his body to heal. And he totally recovered and and got his life back. So this is another one of those really silver platinum linings. And to get my screen back here and there you go to for him to totally change the trajectory of his life like he knows based on his genetics, his comt and then P450 genes that he really needs to do the best to avoid environmental toxins.

Genetics, Lifestyle, and Staying Well 5:43

But that taking the things that support the comt pathway which are some B vitamins and magnesium, lithium orotate amongst other things, as well as he just is going to need to go to diet because the toxins will deplete included down and even more. And that's going to be really foundational for him to to stay well. So I hope this inspires you to listen closely to some of these lectures on on genetics and epigenetics and how we can actually find answers that our genes are not our destiny that we have lots of tools in our toolbox to help us overcome these little glitches that we have.

And you might enjoy watching my TEDx talk at some point on teaching your genes how to behave with just doing some lifestyle changes. So enjoy the information on the genes. They are not your destiny. There's so much you can do and they really can be critical tools to getting well and staying well. Thanks so much for joining me.