June 17, 2019
Your risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack may be hidden in your genome. In the future it may be the norm to have your genome read in order to uncover your risk, and help clinicians determine the best treatment plans to help you stay healthy.
Researchers from the Montreal Heart Institute have used polygenic risk scores (PRSs), which are based on an individual’s entire genome, to predict the risk of developing coronary heart disease and heart attack. The team was keen to determine if previous studies that looked at the PRS of individuals with European descent would hold true for French Canadians.
The team looked at PRSs of over 11,000 French Canadian adults; 3,639 with cardiovascular disease, and 7,382 without. They were able to prove PRSs developed in other populations were also accurate for French Canadians. The PRS was able to identify 6% to 7% of individuals of high risk for developing heart disease.
While more work is required, this study does point to a future where people at risk of heart disease could be detected early and put on simple treatment plans to lower their risk of having a heart attack.
Source: EurekAlert
Read more: http://ow.ly/ROgm50uEwrx
