The most recent study published within the journal Nature Human behavior Interactions between genetic risk and lifestyle aspects were examined within the context of the occurrence and varieties of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

Studies have shown that individuals with an unfavorable lifestyle and high genetic risk are at increased risk of early CVD. Importantly, the study found that improving lifestyle can significantly reduce the incidence of CVD, especially amongst young adults at high genetic risk.

Test: The combined effect of polygenic risk scores and lifestyle on early and late heart problems incidence. Image Source: Chinnapong / Shutterstock

Background

In recent many years, while CVD rates have stabilized or declined amongst adults over age 50, they’ve increased amongst those aged 15 to 49, underscoring growing concerns about early onset of heart problems. Each environmental and genetic variables contribute to this risk.

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) calculated using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may help predict a person’s genetic predisposition to diseases similar to coronary artery disease (CAD), especially in European populations.

Nevertheless, PRS has shown limited efficacy in predicting CVD in East Asian populations or other types of CVD similar to stroke. Moreover, few studies have developed PRS for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) within the Chinese population.

The interaction between genetic risk and lifestyle aspects and the danger of heart problems, particularly the difference between early and late onset of heart problems, stays unexplored.

In regards to the study

The aim of this study was to handle these scientific gaps by assessing the combined effects of lifestyle aspects and genetic risk on heart problems outcomes through a longitudinal study of adults in China.

The study included participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank, an ongoing prospective cohort study of greater than half 1,000,000 adults aged 30 to 79 years from urban and rural areas in China.

From this huge group, 100,639 participants were chosen for genetic evaluation, specializing in heart problems (CVD). The researchers excluded anyone who had a heart attack or stroke at baseline, leaving 96,400 participants for evaluation.

Study participants provided details about their lifestyle, including education, marital status, smoking, food regimen, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference, via surveys and physical examinations.

They were then divided into three groups based on the healthiness of their lifestyle: favorable, intermediate, and unfavorable. The study tracked health outcomes by linking to national health records and native registries. Key outcomes were coronary artery disease (CAD), ischemic stroke (IS), and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Genetic risk scores were created using data from other studies and statistical models. Participants were divided into low, medium, and high genetic risk groups. Quite a lot of statistical methods were used to evaluate the association between genetic risk, lifestyle aspects, and CVD incidence. Sensitivity analyses were performed to make sure the robustness of the findings.

Results

The study found that individuals with an unfavorable lifestyle and high genetic risk developed ICH, CAD, and IS sooner than individuals with a good lifestyle and low genetic risk. Specifically, high-risk individuals experienced these conditions 1.6, 3.4, and 6.0 years earlier, respectively.

Comparing individuals with high genetic risk and an unfavorable lifestyle to those with low risk and a good lifestyle, the hazard ratios (HRs) for early intracranial hemorrhage, coronary heart disease, and ischemic cerebral disease were 6.53, 6.62, and three.34, respectively. For late outcomes, the HRs were 3.55 for intracranial hemorrhage, 6.47 for ischemic heart disease, and a pair of.31 for ischemic cerebral disease.

The study didn’t find a big interaction between lifestyle aspects and genetic risk on a multiplier scale. Nevertheless, there have been positive interactions on an additive scale, meaning that the combined effect of an unfavorable lifestyle and high genetic risk significantly increased the danger of CVD. Changing from an unfavorable to a good lifestyle led to a 14.7-fold greater reduction within the incidence of early-onset CAD in high-risk individuals compared with low-risk individuals, and similar advantages were observed for IS and late-onset CAD. This implies that improving lifestyle can significantly reduce the danger of CVD, especially in individuals with a high genetic predisposition.

Conclusions

On this large-scale study of greater than 100,000 Chinese adults, researchers assessed genetic predisposition to heart problems (CVD) and the influence of lifestyle aspects on these risks.

They found that each high genetic risk and unhealthy lifestyle were strongly related to earlier onset of CVD. The mix of high genetic risk and poor lifestyle significantly increased the danger of early onset of coronary artery disease (CAD) and ischemic stroke (IS), while late onset of CAD was also affected.

Previous studies conducted primarily in European populations have shown similar patterns, but this study uniquely focused on a Chinese cohort.

The study’s strengths include its large sample size, diverse genetic data, and long follow-up period. Nevertheless, there have been limitations, similar to the low prevalence of CVD in young adults and potential inconsistencies in self-reported lifestyle data.

Future studies should consider analyzing sex-specific data and updating lifestyle information over time to enhance accuracy. This study highlights the importance of genetic testing and lifestyle modification, especially for young adults at high genetic risk, as a method for precision CVD prevention.