Hello Reader

Even though no one wants to talk about risks, it is an important piece for building wealth and a common practice when managing assets.

Health is our #1 asset. And living longer has a lot to do with managing risk.

We're constantly assessing risk in everyday situation: it's built into us to avoid certain places, adjust our behavior while driving, buy insurance, when to cross the street...

So why is it so common to bury our heads in the sand when it comes to risks that threaten our health?

I grew up in a family that believed that you shouldn't go to the doctor because they will find something that is wrong.

The result? My grand-mother ended up with a colon cancer the size of a tennis ball, a life-threatening surgery and a huge scare for all of her family.

This is what happens when we let fear make the decisions.

To live a longer healthier life, it is a better strategy to run toward the roar.
You want to find out what is wrong as early as possible so you can course-correct.

Today we're talking about addressing risks head-on.

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How to identify risk factors for your health

There are two kinds of risk factors: background risk factors and behavioral risk factors.

Background risk factors are the ones we cannot control: age, sex, family health history, genes and ethnicity.

Behavioral risk factors are the ones we can control: what we eat, how much we exercise, drinking, smoking, whether we wear a seat-belt, the list goes on.

It's interesting to note that, according to the 2010 world health report, the top risk factors for chronic disease include risk factors that are all under our control:

• tobacco use
• the harmful use of alcohol
• raised blood pressure (or hypertension)
• physical inactivity
• raised cholesterol
• overweight/obesity
• unhealthy diet
• raised blood glucose

Understanding personal risk allows us to take action to reduce it and even prevent disease.

Even though we can't control genes or family history, we can learn from it and adjust our behavior so that risk doesn't increase.

For example, carriers of the gene variant E4 coding for apolipoprotein are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
People with one ApoE4 gene are 2 to 3 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
Those with two ApoE4 genes, 8 to 10 times.

It can be terrifying to confront this possibility. Especially when having seen loved ones go down this path.
​But having ApoE4 is not a death sentence: increased risk doesn't mean certainty.
​People with the ApoE4 variants will suffer much more punishing consequences of a damaging lifestyle.

For such people, knowing this will allow to intervene as early as possible and mitigate the risk by changing behavior.

Here is what the actor Chris Hemsworth said when he learned about his ApoE4 variant when filming the documentary "Limitless":

There is not always one particular gene associated with increased risk. So it's not always as "easy" as getting your genome sequenced.

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How to evaluate the risk

Family history often reveals what we should pay attention to.

Both grand-parents' death linked to colon cancer, father and uncles with heart disease, a parent with dementia, are all strong indicator that those things should be in our radar.
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When thinking about your family, what may be the patterns?

If you find some common threads and you're in your late 30s - early 40s, it's a really good idea to start investigating.

This is a great place to start when it comes to evaluating the risks we're dealing with.

Getting a colonoscopy,
finding a cardiologist to get tested,
measuring your PSA (prostate-specific antigen),
monitoring your blood pressure more closely or
finding a practitioner to check your vitamin D levels:
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​being curious can make the difference between dropping dead at 60 without seeing it coming, and crossing items off of your bucket list for decades to come.

Unfortunately, this is not always an easy endeavour.
With our highly compartmentalized health care system, we may have to find multiple specialists.
Our system is also more reactive than preventative.

To evaluate risk, we have to seek the professionals or direct-to-consumer resources that give us the ability to understand our body, genetic make up and risk.

That's the reason why I got certified in functional health: where most doctors will treat the heart condition, the goal of functional health is to make sure you don't develop it in the first place.
Functional health doctors are a lot easier to find in the US than in Canada. The closest thing to it here are naturopathic doctors.

Our 40s is a great time to invest in finding a physician or a doctor with a root-cause approach and the access to the tests we need, before things start to fall apart.

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How to manage the risk

Once you know how your top asset might break down and what to look for while aging, it's time to manage accordingly to protect yourself against major disasters.

Today, we fasten our seat-belt without even thinking about it.

But when it comes to our health, we're constantly telling ourselves that we're fine.
If you don't get tested, there's nothing to worry about.
​Until it's too late to undo the damage.

And if the risk factors we can't control are the engine, our lifestyle is the accelerator.

Once aware of what we may be dealing with, we can intervene.

An ApoE4 carrier can prioritize sleep and exercise.
Someone with a family history of heart disease can get help to quit smoking.
A person who has lost too many family members to cancer can take the Anti-cancer lifestyle course for free and start taking action to reduce the risks.

There is where having a coach in your corner can make a huge difference: someone like me can help you find the right practitioner, discuss the impact of results on your life and create a plan.

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Life is a long game.

If we don't know anything about the hand we're dealt, how are we suppose to play it?

Risk factors and family history are an empowering piece of the life meter: your longevity dashboard.

Run toward the roar. Don't let fear control you.

Your longevity sidekick,
Jihane.

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