by drrfredrickson@gmail.com December 4, 2019NEWS, TIPS 0
Can your genetics lead you to an increased risk of musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries?
Wow, this research really hits home. Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I get hurt a lot! I have always been “wound tight” and though this helped with speed and jumping, I tend to get hurt more often than my friends and patients. These pictures above are some major injuries and surgeries I have sustained in the past year.
We know that in many sports, the ankle sprain is the most common injury, partly because an athlete who incurs a first ankle sprain is at increased risk of another.The risk of reinjury is highest in the year immediately following the initial sprain.
We also know that between the ages of 20-30 and there after, a person produces about 1 percent less collagen in the skin each year.
What if we could look at genes to help with clinical outcomes in the musculoskeletal field?
Common musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries for which a genetic contribution has been proposed include the Achilles tendon in the heel, the rotator cuff tendons in the shoulder and the cruciate ligaments in the knee. Variants within the TNC, COL5A1 and MMP3 genes co-segregate with chronic Achilles tendinopathy.
Fredrickson Health Solution Insight: Co-Segregate- Definition. The tendency for closely linked genes and genetic markers to segregate (be inherited) together.
What this means, some genes like TNC, COL5A1 AND MMP3 can all be closely linked together… with amplified effects!
“The variant within the TNC gene also appears to correlate with Achilles tendon ruptures, while sequence variants within the COL1A1 and COL5A1 genes have been shown to be associated with cruciate ligament ruptures and/or shoulder dislocations.”
Wow this research is eye opening to me! We know that many Achilles ruptures happen as we get between age 30-50. With the aging process, we see decreases in our collagen and endogenous collagen production. With loss of collagen we also lose force production ,tendon elasticity, tensile strength, and resiliency.Most have not considered that they might have some form predisposition of the COLA1 and TNC gene that limits Collagen production, have you?
I have known several patients, colleagues, and friends that all tear their Achilles after the age of 30…
I am a super paranoid about achilles ruptures as this is one injury I haven’t sustained yet!
I have even made mental rule that I will not play basketball unless I have gone through my entire mobility routine. If interested in my routine, please let me know!
As I anxiously wait for my @DNAFIT test to come in, I am almost 90% sure I have some gene variants in the soft tissue genes. I will post rehab exercises and specific supplements that I use personally in a subsequent post to save you from reading anymore, your welcome! Thank you for reading this far..
Do you want to test your genes and see if you can improve your odds of not sustaining a major soft tissue injury? Send me a message and we can talk about some options available to you.
To anyone who is interested here are the research links for some of the studies I just listed.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18443036Variants within the COL5A1 gene are associated with Achilles tendinopathy in two populations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19696512Genetic risk factors for musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries.
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