This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Poor lifestyle confers CVD risk regardless of genetics
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Across all genetic risk groups, poor lifestyle was associated with elevated risk for adverse CV outcomes, according to a new analysis.
Suboptimal lifestyle choices increased risk for CAD, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, stroke and diabetes, researchers reported.
The researchers analyzed 339,003 participants from the UK Biobank cohort (mean age, 57 years; 54% women) to determine interactions between genetic risk and lifestyle on risk for adverse CV outcomes. Participants were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed until 2015.
Participants were stratified into quintiles and characterized as low (quintile 1), moderate (quintiles 2 to 4) or high (quintile 5) risk.
During the study period, 3% of participants developed CAD, 2.1% developed AF, 0.9% developed stroke, 4.8% developed hypertension and 1.4% developed diabetes, M. Abdullah Said, BSc, from the department of cardiology at University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, and colleagues wrote.
Genetic risk and poor lifestyle were independent predictors for all five types of events, with no interaction for any outcome, the researchers wrote.
Compared with those in the low genetic risk group who had ideal lifestyle, those in the high genetic risk group who had poor lifestyle showed a fourfold increased risk for CAD (HR = 4.54; 95% CI, 3.72-5.54), a fivefold increased risk for AF (HR = 5.41; 95% CI, 4.29-6.81), a fourfold increased risk for hypertension (HR = 4.68; 95% CI, 3.85-5.69), a twofold increased risk for stroke (HR = 2.26; 95% CI, 1.63-3.14) and a 15-fold increased risk for diabetes (HR = 15.46; 95% CI, 10.82-22.08), Said and colleagues wrote.
“This study shows that genetic composition and lifestyle have a log-additive effect on the risk of developing disease and that the relative effects of poor lifestyle are comparable between [genetic risk] groups,” the researchers wrote. – by Erik Swain
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts