People at high risk of a heart attack in adulthood could be spotted much earlier in life with a one-off DNA test, according to new research which we part-funded, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
People at high risk of a heart attack in adulthood could be spotted much earlier in life with a one-off DNA test, according to new research which we part-funded, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
An international team led by researchers from the University of Leicester, University of Cambridge and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia used UK Biobank data to develop and test a powerful scoring system, called a Genomic Risk Score (GRS) which can identify people who are at risk of developing coronary heart disease prematurely because of their genetics.
People who are at high risk could be encouraged to make important lifestyle changes from an early age and be offered lifesaving medicines on a case to case basis, should they be necessary.
Genetic factors have long been known to be major contributors of someone’s risk of developing coronary heart disease – the leading cause of heart attacks. In today's health system, doctors identify those at risk doctors use scores based on lifestyle and clinical conditions associated with coronary heart disease such as cholesterol level, blood pressure, diabetes and smoking. But these scores are imprecise, age-dependent and miss a large proportion of people who appear ‘healthy’, but will still develop the disease.
Read more at British Heart Foundation
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