In a new study from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, researchers found that following Life’s Simple 7 guidelines can significantly lower the risk of coronary heart disease despite genetic makeup.
Life’s Simple 7 guidelines were developed by the American Heart Association (AHA).
The guidelines identify seven risk factors people can manage through lifestyle changes to improve their heart health.
They include eating better, increasing physical activity, managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, reducing blood sugar, losing weight, and stopping smoking.
Previous studies have shown that polygenic risk predicts coronary heart disease, and some studies have suggested that high polygenic risk can be offset by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
But these studies have mainly examined relative risks, without translating this to measures of absolute risk that are easier to interpret
The new study aims to answer the question: “If I have a high polygenic risk of coronary heart disease, to what extent can I compensate for this through a healthy lifestyle?”
In the current study, the team examined data from 8,372 white participants and 2,314 Black participants over the age of 45 and free of coronary heart disease.
They looked at the differences in a person’s lifetime risk of coronary heart disease and years lived free of coronary heart disease, according to their polygenic risk and adherence to AHA’s Life’s Simple 7 guidelines.
They found that the lifetime risk of white participants with high polygenic risk of coronary heart disease was approximately 40% compared to 20% for those with low polygenic risk.
White participants with high polygenic risk had a lifetime risk as high as 67% when they also had a poor Life’s Simple 7 score, but as low as 24% when they had an ideal Life’s Simple 7 score.
In Black participants, experts found similar differences in lifetime risk according to lifestyle, but less pronounced differences according to genetic predisposition.
The findings suggest that regardless of a person’s genetic predisposition, they can lower their chances of developing coronary heart disease by adhering to the AHA’s Life’s Simple 7 guidelines, but those with the highest polygenic risk stood to gain the most.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies about food that may harm your heart rhythm, and novel causes of irregular heart rhythm.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about two effective ways to quickly restore normal heart rhythm, and results showing that one cup of nitrate-rich vegetables per day may prevent heart disease.
The study was conducted by Natalie R. Hasbani et al., and published in Circulation.
