Healthy habits can cut your risk of heart disease in half, even if your
genes are stacked against you, according to new research.
The report, published online Nov. 13, 2016, by The New England Journal of Medicine, used data from more than 55,000 people from four separate studies. Researchers analyzed each person's genetic propensity for heart disease based on 50 gene variants known to raise cardiovascular risk. They also ranked each person based on four lifestyle habits: not smoking, not being obese (having a body mass index less than 30), exercising at least once a week, and following a healthy diet at least half of the time.
People with the highest genetic risk scores had nearly twice the
risk of having a heart attack or a related problem as those with low
scores. But people who had three or four of the healthy lifestyle habits
cut their risk in half, compared with people who had none or just one
of the habits, the researchers found. On the flip side, unhealthy habits
seem to undo the advantages of good genes.
The report, published online Nov. 13, 2016, by The New England Journal of Medicine, used data from more than 55,000 people from four separate studies. Researchers analyzed each person's genetic propensity for heart disease based on 50 gene variants known to raise cardiovascular risk. They also ranked each person based on four lifestyle habits: not smoking, not being obese (having a body mass index less than 30), exercising at least once a week, and following a healthy diet at least half of the time.
sources: health.harvard.edu