Nathalie's Angels

Pam Kilmurray, a legacy at Legacy, retired the week. You may never have heard her name but trust me she was a big part of elevating cancer care through out Oregon through her vision and operational genius as Director of the Cancer Service Line for Legacy Health System. When physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapist and other team members came with ideas to improve patient care, bring new technology or enhance patient care delivery she figured out how to make a dream reality. Much of this changed the landscape of treatment across all health systems and leveled up care much beyond Legacy. Pam we thank you for your service, ingenuity and most of all your heart. ❤️ May God bless you as richly as you have blessed us. PS. Good to see so many old friends turn out to celebrate 🎉 🎊💞❤️. This post is truly about Pam K even though there are lots of shots of me😆

Ever heard of epigenetics ? It’s an evolving science that helps us understand more about how our genes 🧬 function over and above our DNA. You are probably wondering 🤔 what does that mean exactly. Glad you asked. We all inherit genes and we initially thought that everything you express is a result of those inherited genes but it turns out it’s not that simple. For instance, identical twins are born with identical genes and yet they can express different diseases. It turns out that the older they get the less their genes express in the same way. Why would that be ? Another interesting example came from studying babies born from mothers exposed to the Dutch famine. During the years of famine those babies ended up with higher rates of schizophrenia, hypertension, and diabetes. Babies born before and after the years of famine did not end up developing those diseases at the same rate. It turns out that our environment can cause something called methylation of our genes 🧬 that can turn gene function off and on. Scientists did not initially understand this phenomenon when they mapped the Human Genome so it has been called the 👻 Ghost in our genes. It explains why environmental exposures can impact our health and how that impact maybe seen over several generations. Dr Cynthia Aks gives us a little snippet on Epigentics. Including a link to an interesting video if you are interested in learning more or Google Ghost in Our Genes. The Nova series is a little older but also quite fascinating 🧐

https://vimeo.com/geneimprint

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mwr5i