DNA sequencing

[gael123]

Hi guys. I'm new here and my first question is a little off-the-wall, but I'll unpack it a bit and hope you can help me...

I'm a 42 yr old male. Years ago my father died of a rare cancer. Since he died, genetic research has shown that this cancer can be connected to a faulty inherited gene, an association so strong some scientists are calling it a 'syndrome.' The gene is the one Angelina Jolie turned out to have (hence her masectomy). In men it can also cause cancers in the pancreas, kidney and renal area.

I'm considering having my DNA sequenced so I can find if I have the gene. That way, I could alert my doctor and be on the lookout as the years pass for symptoms of this group of cancers and catch them early. I have family members who I think would like me to do this; part of me wants to, part of me doesn't.

I asked the I Ching, which I try only to consult on big questions. "What should I expect if I have my DNA sequenced?" I received hexagram 29 unchanging. This seems like an intense, direct warning not to do it. Would you guys agree?

many thanks

John

 

[svenrus]

"You are setting out on a journey to find something. The
mission will be successful only if you have faith." (Comment on Judgement, hex. 29)
[Kerson & Rosemary Huang, I Ching, © N.Y. 1987]

As I read Your story You seems to have a sincere wish to solve this out. To have faith in this shouldn't be a problem for You.

 

[gael123]

Thank you, Svenrus. That's actually very helpful as I know I can be a bit reductive in my own responses to the I ching, especially on personal matters. I guess the whole process does involve going, like the waters, very deep... But I do as you say have a sincere desire to do the best for myself and family! Thanks again.

 

[RindaR]

Your comment about the question being "off the wall" (a vertical surface) seems to resonate with "repeating chasms"... Could 29 be referring to your inner debate about doing this? Yes, no, yes, no being the landscape of your dilemma as it were?

You could stay on one side of the chasm not knowing what is on the other side, or you could leap across and still have other chasms to face. Either way, taking very good care of yourself is a wonderful plan.

 

[jzy369]

I asked the I Ching, which I try only to consult on big questions. "What should I expect if I have my DNA sequenced?" I received hexagram 29 unchanging.

You asked what to expect of the result, so it is not a question of wheher to do the test or not, right? Please correct me if I am wrong.

The theme for hx 29 is "Getting accustomed to obstacles". Its original Chinese text actually offers some good pointers:

"Subject’s primary attitude should be “get used to it”. With this attitude and more experience, confidence shall arise from navigating through obstacles. Subject must apply a lot of detailed attentions to be versatile with obstacles , such as leveraging obstacles for defensive purpose. Such attitude and actions are respected and follow-worthy by others, and subject shall ultimately educate others in dealing with similar challenges. "

So, even if the result may indicate "obstacles", IC text was written in a pro-active tone to encourage us to move forward. Original text for this hex was actually straight forward, I just translated it pretty literally. Hope this provides some inspiration.

 

[peterg]

Some people would like to know because forewarned is forearmed . Others would prefer to live in blissful ignorance. It might come down to how you would handle the knowledge of having the risky pattern.

Neuroscientist James Fallon studies the biological basis for behaviour and studied the brain scans of psychopaths.
Previously he had studied the brain scans of ten relatives as part of a project to see whether his family had a risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
He came from a lineage of killers including Lizzy Borden and when he studied the brain scans of his family, found that his own scan was the only one that resembled a psychopath.
Fallon also tested family members' DNA for genes that are associated with violence. Only one showed the risky pattern - himself.
He believes that brain patterns and genetic makeup don't determine fate but can help tip you in one direction or another. Psychopaths usually have a third ingredient, abuse or violence in childhood.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976

 

[cjgait]

I studied the Yi for quite a long time, now I've concentrated my study on the Jiao Shi Yi Lin, a related text from the Han Dynasty. So I looked at 29 unchanging there for you:

29 - 29

A bird with yellow legs,
It comes with a report of Ji Yu,*
Going together with us to Suiyang,
Thereby avoiding military disaster.
Making our way with blessings,
Fate favors with longevity.

*Ji Yu seems to refer to Liu Zhang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Zhang_%28warlord%29), an Eastern Han warlord who invited Liu Bei into his realm to assist him, only to end up handing control of the kingdom to him.

So I would probably get the sequencing if I were you, but you need to meditate on what you are going to do if they find the syndrome/gene. We are all of us mortal, living under a deferred death sentence. But you may be told that you are facing very significant challenges long before you would normally be dealing with them.

The omen received is really not very decisive. It seems to indicate bad news (the bird with yellow legs), but the last line is very favorable for your situation. So it may indicate finding the syndrome, but still living a long life. The overall lesson though, as I see it, is how important it is for you not to allow the health issue to 'take over your kingdom'.

 

[sooo]

I've never considered faith as being a part of 29, but after considering the part faith plays in my own preemptive health care, I have to agree to its relevancy and importance. Of course, as the scripture also goes, "faith without works is dead," which calls for preemptive healthy living, not blind faith only.

This may sound odd, but I speak directly to my heart, which is 97% reliant upon a pacemaker to keep beating at 70 bpm, and I speak to my enlarged prostate every single time I urinate. I speak faith and encouragement, for my heart to be happy and to keep a good, soulful rhythm going, and to the prostate I speak that it moves out of the way and becomes smaller. It is "bad luck" to say this faith is working, but I practice it daily. In addition, I pay close attention to improving my diet, I've quit smoking (everything), and I try to exercise to a reasonable limit my heart will allow. I COULD choose to preemptively have my prostate removed or decreased, but there's not much more than the above I can do for my enlarged heart, though I am convinced that since taking better care of myself, and with the help of a pacemaker, and perhaps more than anything, greatly reducing stress, my heart has greatly improved without radical surgery.

The last thing I mean to do is to say preemptive surgery, such as Angelina Jolie chose for herself, is wrong. What I will say is that it's not the only option, and that it may not be the best option in every case. There is evidence, with great optimism for future scientific developments, that DNA does alter, it does respond to proper care, and I believe that faith and effective prayer can be a life saving medicine. There are right ways and wrong ways to pray for healing and health, but that's a subject for perhaps another time and place.

As Svenrus' quote from Huang has said, "You are setting out on a journey to find something. The
mission will be successful only if you have faith."

Mutilating your healthy body by undergoing a series of traumatic, invasive surgeries does not sound like good preventative care to me. It sounds like a very expensive, self-mutilating reaction to tests that say you “might” have a health issue in the future. No matter what the percentages are that you could develop cancer in the future, the fact remains that you are removing parts of your body that are currently healthy. - See more at: [url]http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/two-radical-brave-choices-to-prevent-cancer-voluntary-mutilation-or-clean-living-05142013#sthash.DQA42Ka1.dpuf

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[gael123]

Thank you so much to all of you. You have given me very rich material to meditate on here. I am very struck by what you say, sooo, about the way you have handled your own health challenges - I too believe the body responds powerfully to the mind and have experience of that myself. And I do think that the mental side of the problem is in some ways accentuated by the hexagram - especially in light of what cjgait and peterg point out. the real issue may be how to handle uncertainty.

jzy369, yes, I did ask about what to expect if I did it. So you're right there. I don't know about you, though, but sometimes I have found the Iching to respond in an oblique way to my question - as though it is telling me something deeper about the structure of the situation. Your words about obstacles are well taken.

Thanks again to all, very much.

 

[pocossin]

Whatever the genes, it may be possible to keep cancer from manifesting.

http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3117

 

[qafinaf]

Ah yes, good suggestion, Pocossin. Here's another diet approach. A man named William Li gave a good TED talk on the subject.

 

[kafuka]

I've been reading Lissa Rankin's Mind Over Medicine and find it amazing, something everyone should read.

 

[pocossin]

Very interesting, Aureolus and Kafuka. Here are some links.

http://www.standup2cancer.org/article_archive/view/foods_that_fight_cancer/
-- a written account of Dr. Li's ideas

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...ook-shows-incredible-influence-mind-body.html
-- Dr. Rankins' ideas