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I WANTED TO MENTION THIS:

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Epigenetics is some serious stuff!  I know this information appears technical, but when we consider it we can see that this information is talking about changes in the ‘DNA control mechanisms’ rather than in the DNA itself that causes all kinds of serious disorders.

Epigenetic changes are often adaptations to toxic, threatening and malevolent conditions in our environment, particularly our early one.  Severe child abuse and neglect constitutes such a condition.  While the DNA itself is not changing in these epigenetic cases, the mechanisms that tell the DNA what to do — every single second of our lifetime — changes and THESE changes can be passed on down to future generations along with the physiological changes they cause.

This is a very new field of study.  Epigenetic changes are one of the reasons that early childhood severe stress and trauma is so dangerous.  The passing-down of these ‘directional mechanism’ changes means that we have a whole new level other than actual DNA code to consider as we look at how genetics influence development – including the development of adult-onset diseases including many so-called mental illnesses.

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from Wickipedia:

Epigenetics

In biology, the term epigenetics refers to changes in phenotype (appearance) or gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence, hence the name epi- (Greek: over; above) –genetics. These changes may remain through cell divisions for the remainder of the cell’s life and may also last for multiple generations. However, there is no change in the underlying DNA sequence of the organism;^[1] instead, non-genetic factors cause the organism’s genes to behave (or “express themselves”) differently.^[2] ….

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The following is an example of how this information looks in the research.  This is an abstract coming from research on epigenetics.  I thought about this topic today after a friend of mine whose husband has Parkinson’s disease told me today that his mother never wanted him, and that he was orphaned from birth.  I thought about the kinds of stressors on his developing body and how they probably correspond to his adult-onset Parkinson’s.  I thought about my cancer, which I will always believe was triggered by unimaginable stress during my childhood.

Epigenetic adaptations and changes are among the very real problems that originate in malevolent childhoods that are a part of what we would hope to alleviate as we work toward intervention and prevention of child abuse.

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Lancet Neurol. 2009 Nov;8(11):1056-72.

Epigenetic mechanisms in neurological diseases: genes, syndromes, and therapies.

Urdinguio RG, Sanchez-Mut JV, Esteller M.

Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and modifications to histone proteins regulate high-order DNA structure and gene expression. Aberrant epigenetic mechanisms are involved in the development of many diseases, including cancer. …

Moreover, aberrant DNA methylation and histone modification profiles of discrete DNA sequences, and those at a genome-wide level, have just begun to be described for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease, and in other neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

In this Review, we describe epigenetic changes present in neurological diseases and discuss the therapeutic potential of epigenetic drugs, such as histone deacetylase inhibitors.

PMID: 19833297 [PubMed – in process of publication]

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