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Genetic link to MI stronger than link to stroke
Banerjee A. Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2011;doi:10.1161/circgenetics.110.959114.
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Among participants in a population-based study in England, heritability of an MI was significantly more prominent than stroke.
In the study, researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed first-degree relatives for family history of MI, stroke and related risk factors, specifically looking to determine the extent to which parental history correlated with disease in affected siblings. In all, the study featured 906 patients (66.7% men) with acute coronary syndrome and 1,015 patients with cerebral events (47.7% men), each one with complete family history data available.
Researchers reported that parental MI had a significant effect on MI in at least one sibling, with an OR for those with one affected parent of 1.48 (95% CI, 1.04-2.10), whereas for those with two affected parents, the OR was 5.97 (95% CI, 3.23-11.03). However, no associations were observed regarding parental stroke on siblings.
Similarly, despite a comparable occurrence of MI and stroke in the study population, the incidence of two siblings with the same condition was much higher in patients with ACS compared with those with cerebral events (OR=5.43; 95% CI, 3.03-9.76).
If these findings are confirmed by additional research, the way physicians predict the odds of a healthy person experiencing an MI or stroke will need refining, study researcher Peter M. Rothwell, MD, PhD, said in a press release.
“Currently, most risk models lump a patient’s family history of stroke and heart attack together. We probably should model family history of stroke and heart attack separately in the future,” Rothwell said. – by Brian Ellis
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What I gleaned from this study is that CAD is more likely to be inherited compared with stroke. This is not surprising, however, since ACS and MI are almost always the result of coronary artery atherosclerosis. Stroke, on the other hand, has many different causes (etiologies), with cerebral blood vessel atherosclerosis the most common cause, but hypertension with brain hemorrhage, embolism secondary to atrial fibrillation, congenital anomalies of the cerebral circulation, etc., account for many strokes.
The tendency to develop atherosclerosis is definitely inherited, so it is no surprise that a tendency to have an MI is also inherited. Since many strokes are not due to atherosclerosis, the inherited tendency will be much weaker for stroke.
– Joseph Alpert, MD
Cardiology Today
Editorial Board member
Disclosure: Dr. Alpert reported no relevant financial disclosures.
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