Understanding Genomics - its actually quite simple

Visited a brilliant doctor, Dr Bill Reeder, last week with Tiffany who has some long term health issues. We were in the presence of greatness, as the saying goes. For the first time ever I felt I have visited a doctor who (a) really cared about us and (b) new more than I did about optimal health, nutrition and wellness.
Here is a  doctor who treats people holistically. Bill spent about an hour and a half with us.

Discussed everything from metabolic systems to practical ways to reduce stress. Amazing knowledge and understanding of the way body works and about how the systems work together. He understands how the bodies systems all interrelate and how if something goes wrong there is a bunch of knock on effects in the body. Bill also explained the why behind some things we had been told before. If we had known the why we would have made different choices at the time. To be honest if I could pick any job in the world to do, I think doing what he does would have to be close to heavenly. My problem is that I don't want to undertake decades of training and practice to earn the right to do what he does.Would love to give you specific details about the insightful and wise states that Bill made but as we were discussing Tiffany's health I cannot give specifics.

So if you are in New Zealand and have an issue that is not being answered by conventional medicence, but you still what someone with a medical background and grasp of the science behind your problems I highly recommend Dr Bill Reeder of the Biomedical Therapies for Optimum Health at the Narrows Hamilton.

On Bill's walls were posters and diagrams that I would have loved to removed and taken home with me. Wonderful diagrams showing how things worked, what they did and how they could be measured. He had even made up his own diagrams to explain to people the biochemical pathways in your body. He said that you can have a Genome test, which is analyzed in the states. This shows areas that genetically you body is not good at, so instance a particular enzyme or structure that your body has issues creating. Then he uses the diagrams that he has made up to show what the lack of these enzymes/structures will lead to in your body. Thus you get to understand the basic biochemistry in a easily understandable way with wonderful diagrams.

Then it hit me - this is Genomics in action. I have heard about genomics and how it is the next big thing. However I never really understood what it meant and how it might affect me. Then by "coincidence" I was reading today again thinking about the post I did yesterday and bang there is was:

Definition of the adequate amount of vitamin D, however, is still uncertain; polymorphisms of the gene encoding the vitamin D receptor might be responsible for this uncertainty. People carrying less efficient variants of the receptor might need higher amounts of vitamin D.

Your optimal level of vitamins is dependent upon your genome. It's that simple. Want to find out what level of nutrient you need. You only need to know your genome data and you should in theory be able to determine what your optimal level should be. Now the science behind doing this may still be worked out but the theory is all there. And there is the issue of lifestyle choices, the high stress worker who lives in a big city will have higher nutrient need that the lower stress country person.

The next trick would be to have a blood or urine test that determines if your lifestyle is providing you with enough of the nutrient. It is one think to know that I need a particular amount of a vitamin, it is another thing to know what I am actually getting of that vitamin. 

Reference: Kidney International (2009) 76, 931–933. doi:10.1038/ki.2009.312 Chronic kidney disease and vitamin D: how much is adequate? Marco Ruggiero and Stefania Pacini