Even in those with a low genetic risk, a poor lifestyle increases the chance of cardiovascular disease

A healthy "ideal" lifestyle was defined by assessing smoking status, body mass index, and physical activity.

By: Agencies | | Published: June 29, 2018 9:28 am

Carried out by researchers at University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the study used data taken from 339,003 unrelated individuals with a mean age of 56.86 years participating in the long-term health study UK Biobank.

The researchers focused on five cardiovascular conditions — coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, stroke, hypertension and type 2 diabetes — and calculated each participant’s genetic risk for the diseases, categorizing it as low, intermediate, or high. Read: Heart disease: 7 ways to keep your heart fit and strong

The team then analyzed how within each genetic risk group an ideal, intermediate, or poor lifestyle affected the risk of the five conditions.

The results showed that genetic risk and lifestyle were both independent predictors of the risk of disease, and that even those with a low genetic risk could still have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes if they had a poor lifestyle.

However, the chance of developing one of the conditions was even higher for those who had a poor lifestyle and a high genetic risk when compared to those with an ideal lifestyle in the low genetic risk group. Read: What is the difference between heart attack and heart failure?

Lead researcher Pim van der Harst, Professor of Cardiology at the UMCG commented on the findings saying, “This is very powerful data demonstrating that a healthy lifestyle is important for all of us. Favorable genetics are good, you have a low risk to start, but a poor lifestyle can undo this luck and put you right up there with those unlucky of having a high genetic risk for heart disease. If you have a high genetic risk, than you really should adhere to an ideal lifestyle or you are in double trouble.”

Co-investigator Abdullah Said, added, “The findings can be used to improve the identification of people at high risk and to further personalize their risk prediction. Now you can see which part of your risk you cannot change, your genes, and which part you can change, your lifestyle.”

Source: AFP

Image Source: Shutterstock

Published: June 29, 2018 9:28 am

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