19 Feb To Your Health: Dr. Alan – DNA, Genetics & Cancer!
Welcome back to the series which offers a deep dive into the world of health, wellness, and disease prevention with Telluride local Dr. Alan Safdi.
Dr. Alan is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, and a respected leader in healthcare. His blogs have featured and will continue to showcase the most current information in his fields: health, wellness and longevity.
In this installment of “To Your Heath, Dr. Alan dives into a topic that sounds complex but is actually very personal — DNA, genetics, and what they mean for cancer risk.
Scroll down to read the salient details and listen to the podcast to find out more.
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A recent large population study highlighted by the Cleveland Clinic found that about 5% of Americans carry gene variants that increase their cancer risk. That is roughly 16 million people. What is especially important is that many of these individuals do not have the classic family history that would normally prompt genetic testing, so their risk can remain hidden for years.
In simple terms, DNA is the body’s instruction manual, and genes are the individual instructions that tell our cells how to grow, divide, repair damage, and control abnormal cell growth. We inherit two copies of most genes, one from each parent. Many of the genes linked to cancer, such as DNA repair genes like BRCA1, BRCA2, and those involved in Lynch syndrome, act like the body’s internal quality control system. When one of these genes has a pathogenic variant, the cell’s ability to detect and repair DNA errors is reduced, allowing mutations to accumulate over time.
That helps explain why inherited cancers often occur earlier in life and may involve multiple organs across generations, even in otherwise healthy individuals. It also explains why the concept of penetrance matters meaning not everyone with a gene variant will develop cancer, but their lifetime risk can be significantly higher than the general population.
Equally important is the growing science of epigenetics.
Epigenetics refers to how lifestyle, environment, inflammation, nutrition, sleep, and exposures can influence how genes are turned on or off without changing the DNA itself. In other words, your genetic code may stay the same, but gene expression can shift based on how you live and what your body is exposed to over time.
That is why two people with the same genetic variant can have very different outcomes. One may develop disease earlier, while another may never develop it at all. Understanding both inherited genetic risk and modifiable epigenetic influences is becoming central to modern precision medicine, earlier screening, and more personalized cancer prevention.
Dr. Alan, more:
Dr. Alan Safdi is board-certified in Internal Medicine and in Gastroenterology and a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology. A proven leader in the healthcare arena, he has been featured on the national program, “Medical Crossfire” and authored or co-authored numerous medical articles and abstracts.
Safdi, a long-time Telluride local, has been involved in grant-based and clinical research for four decades. He is passionate about disease prevention and wellness, not just fixing what has gone wrong.
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