DNA isnt destiny: Healthy living can overcome genes linked to heart disease
If your parent or sibling died young from cardiovascular disease, take heart: There are ways you can counter any genetic predisposition to the illness.
New research shows that people can minimize an inherited risk for heart attack by living right -- exercising, eating healthy, staying slim and quitting smoking.
Even with a little effort in these areas, people can cut their high genetic risk of heart disease by more than half, said senior researcher Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, director of the Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
But the opposite also is true, Kathiresan warned. People born with a genetic advantage protecting them against heart disease can ruin their good luck through unhealthy lifestyle choices.
For heart attack at least, DNA is not destiny, Kathiresan said. You have control over your risk for heart attack, even if youve been dealt a bad hand.
Kathiresan presented his findings Sunday at the American Heart Associations annual meeting, in New Orleans. The study was published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For their research, Kathiresan and his colleagues pooled data on more than 55,000 participants in four large-scale health studies.
The researchers analyzed each persons genetic risk for heart disease using a panel of 50 gene variants previously associated with elevated heart attack risk.
They also judged each persons lifestyle based on four factors: smoking, body weight, diet and exercise.
The requirements to have a good lifestyle were not rigorous, Kathiresan said. The person essentially had to not smoke, not be obese, get physical activity at least one day a week, and regularly meet at least half of the American Heart Associations recommendations for a healthy diet.
HealthDay
