Genetic predisposition

And for 40 years, she's quietly, diligently been telling us that the principal causes of Parkinson's disease are not inside of us.

Now, only 13% of Americans carry a genetic cause or genetic risk factor for the disease.

The principal cause of disease is not in our DNA.

It's outside of us in our environment.

If we use the phrase, genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger, is that even true for Parkinson's? Because if it's only 13% that carry the genes, it sounds entirely possible to develop even if you don't have genetic susceptibility.

But what role does genetic susceptibility play in this condition?

So not only is it entirely possible that you can do it, but the vast majority of Americans, 87% of Americans... have no known genetic cause or genetic risk factor.

So that either means that my outstanding colleagues in genetics have missed it, I don't think they have, Dr. Andy Singleton's world-class geneticists, or that there just really aren't strong genetic underpinnings to the disease, and that's indeed the case.

Yeah.

And I feel like there's like a genetic predisposition for a lot of us.

Did you have addiction in your family?

I recently yeah in sobriety I learned that my dad really struggled with addiction never knew that before I thought he was just a pothead growing up but apparently he did struggle with with pills and that's like me learning from like my siblings and what they what they figured out

Wow.

Crazy, right? Yes.

So, yeah, recently learning that I do have a genetic predisposition, which is mind-blowing.

I was like, well, it wasn't super mind-blowing, but, yeah, now he's just a pothead.