DNA test to identify those twice as likely to have an early heart attack
A test that determines whether people have an inherited vulnerability to heart attacks is to be developed after scientists discovered a genetic variant that can double the risk of having one at an early age.
The DNA test, which is being developed by an Icelandic company, has been assisted by two separate studies that identified a genetic profile that increases a person’s susceptibility to heart attacks and coronary heart disease.
The most damaging variant, which is carried by between a fifth and a quarter of the white European population, raises the chances of a heart attack, at any age, by up to 60 per cent.
In early middle age, it has an even greater impact: it doubles the risk for men younger than 50, and for women younger than 60, researchers found.
Coronary heart disease is the biggest cause of death in developed countries such as Britain.
In England, about 275,000 people have a heart attack each year, and 110,000 people die of heart disease.
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Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
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