Hello to all you relatives. My name is Judith Clark Whitenight, my mother is Pamela Barfield Clark, she is the daughter of Robert Barfield and Frances Derk Barfield and so on and so on.
I decided to create this blog that we, the blood line of Barfields and Derks can share, as recently more and more knowledge has come to me that there is a lot of genetic health concerns running through our bloodline. I thought this would be a good way for us to share and to gather information, also to just connect with you all. This is just a simple blog as not all family connects through facebook or other social media.
So about health concerns. For those that are unaware, we have some bad genes (but that's okay, it is what it is). One of those bad gene flaws is the BRCA2; yes, some of us carry this in the family, some don't. The BRCA2 gene belongs to a class of genes known as tumor suppressor genes. Like many other tumor suppressors, the protein produced from the BRCA2 gene helps prevent cells from growing and dividing too rapidly or in an uncontrolled way. For those with it it means a higher risk of breast cancer, (yes the men too), for the females it means a higher risk of ovarian cancer as well; for all it can also increase the risk of colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and for the men, prostate cancer. For additional reading go to: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/BRCA2
So now I hear Degenerative Disc Disease is hereditary and it seems more and more family are ending up with these issues.
For additional reading go to:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2335375/
There are more familiar health concerns, these are just 2 that I chose to bring forward today. Would you be willing to share your stories so those family members that are suffering can find some answers? Please share this blog to other family members and I hope to hear from you all.
