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Discover your genetic risk for 49 medical conditions

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Heart Attack

Heart attack occurs when blockages in the coronary arteries cut off the blood supply to the heart causing damage to the heart muscle.

deCODEme can calculate your genetic risk for Heart Attack.

SEE WHAT YOUR GENETIC TEST RESULTS COULD LOOK LIKE

Several studies have found evidence of a genetic contribution to risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks.

Some people have particular genetic variations that can predispose to coronary heart disease.

Many genetic variations require the presence of environmental factors (such as smoking) to trigger coronary heart disease.

Genetics play a role in heart attacks and the development of coronary heart disease

Coronary heart disease and heart attacks are caused by a complex interaction of genes, environment and lifestyle

Coronary heart disease is a complex disease, caused by an interaction of various risk factors, both inherited and environmental. The genetic component influencing an individual´s risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack are attributable to many different genes. You may have variants in some genes that increase risk of coronary heart disease and variants in other genes that decrease your risk.

Several common genetic risk variants for heart attack have been discovered

Several studies have found evidence of a genetic contribution to CHD and heart attacks. Eight common genetic variants have been discovered that are associated with an increased risk of heart attack; one variant on each of the following chromosomes: 2 , 3, 6, 9, 10, and 12 (SH2B3) gene and two variants on chromosome 1. The variant on chromosome 9, near the CDKN2A/2B genes, is a particularly strong risk factor for early-onset heart attack (occurring earlier than 50 years of age in men and 60 years of age in women). A variant in the BRAP gene on chromosome 12 contributes to the risk of heart attack in East Asians but not in people of European descent.

Knowing your genetic risk can help you focus on reducing your overall risk

It is important to emphasize that whatever combination of genetic variants you carry, there is still a lot you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease. Most importantly, it is recommended that individuals adopt a healthy lifestyle, do not smoke and seek treatment if their blood pressure and cholesterol levels are too high. Knowing your genetic risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack means that you can better assess the importance of investing in a healthy lifestyle to help protect your heart, especially if you think your family history might put you at increased risk of heart disease.

deCODEme can calculate your genetic risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack

The deCODEme Complete Scan identifies the eight variants listed above in customers of European descent and provides interpretation of their associated risk for the development of coronary heart disease and heart attack as well as early-onset heart attack (CDKN2A/CDKN2B). In East Asians, deCODEme currently identifies the variant on chromosome 9 and one of the variants on chromosome 12 (in the BRAP gene). See scientific details for more information. Currently no risk estimation data are available for people of other ethnicities for the variants listed above.

Please note that the deCODEme scans do not identify rare gene variants linked to the highly heritable forms of coronary heart disease, which greatly increase the risk of heart attack.

This content was last reviewed on February 09, 2010.

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