In the United States, half of over a million people suffering from heart attack die each year! There are several known factors that lead to heart attack — be it taking certain drugs, such as cocaine or emotional stress or pain, exposure to extreme cold or taking smoking cigarettes.
Till date, lots of awareness programs have been launched worldwide to help prevent heart attacks by changing life styles. But, do you know, apart from all these factors, a common genetic variation on chromosome 9p21 may increase one’s heart attack risk?
This is what a new international research study published in the latest edition of the Journal Science claims. The study reveals the first common variant that is found to be consistently linked to substantial heart attack risk!
And more importantly, about 21 percent of individuals of European descent carry the genetic variation’s two copies (one from each parent) that are found on chromosome 9p21.
Led by the Icelandic genomics company deCODE Genetics, along with U.S. researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, Duke University, and the University of Pennsylvania, the research is sure to provide a breakthrough to further research on the solution to heart diseases caused by these genetic variations.
Image: positivenation.co.uk
