Heart Disease Risk Factors Tell More About Health Than Gene Analysis

Heart disease risk factors tell more about health than gene analysis

Genetic tests cannot predict the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes more accurately than traditional risk factors. The traditional risk factors for cardiovascular diseases include blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, smoking, and diabetes mellitus.

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Genetic tests cannot predict the likelihood of developing heart attacks and strokes more accurately than traditional risk factors. This was shown by a study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease include blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, smoking, and diabetes.

Early detection of the risk of developing cardiovascular disease helps prevent life-threatening conditions such as heart attack and stroke. This requires a timely change in lifestyle and, in certain cases, the beginning of preventive treatment.

There are several calculators available for assessing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The most famous of these is based on traditional risk factors. Previously, a number of studies have identified many gene variants that are associated with the likelihood of heart and vascular disease. But the authors of the new scientific work emphasize that such a connection does not always show that the disease will actually develop in the future.

Scientists decided to compare these two methods for predicting heart attacks and strokes. They used data from two large studies of atherosclerosis: more than seven thousand people were known to be genetic, as well as standard risk factors.

The authors of the study tested how two algorithms accurately predict the development of diseases over 15 years: genetic and standard.

The genetic analysis and the standard risk factor calculator gave similar results. People with the highest risk of cardiovascular disease on both scales were more likely to develop heart attacks and strokes. The genetic method showed no benefit.

“Genetics is important for defining inherited diseases and as a key tool for understanding human biology. The idea that genetics can play a role in predicting common diseases in humans has been in mind for several years. But now she cannot imagine a routine method for predicting cardiovascular disease,”said Thomas J. Wang of the University of Texas, co-author of the study.