Heart Disease Risk, How Do Genetics Relate?

Dr. Scherwitz shares how genetics relate to a woman's risk for heart disease.

Dr. Scherwitz:
Genes are proteins that determine how you manufacture tissues and molecules in your body and genetic testing is a way of determining how these genes are expressed, in terms of getting a resilience or resistance to a disease or making you more prone to disease.

About Dr. Scherwitz, Ph.D.:
Larry W. Scherwitz, PhD, is a leader in the field of behavioral medicine research with 25 years experience in developing and testing approaches to managing chronic disease with lifestyle changes. Dr. Scherwitz has been on the faculty of various medical institutions including Baylor College of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, California Pacific Medical Center, and the Preventive Medicine Research Institute. He worked at the research director with Dr. Dean Ornish to demonstrate that it is possible to reverse coronary heart disease with lifestyle changes including diet, exercise, stress management and social support. Dr. Scherwitz’ is often a keynote speaker at conferences and has published his research discoveries in an array of prestigious medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, and Psychosomatic Medicine. Presently, Larry and his wife Deborah Kesten, MPH have a coaching practice to help clients lose weight as well as prevent, halt, and reverse heart disease. Larry also consults with clients to help them design studies to evaluate the efficacy of complementary and alternative practices.