Men’s genes make them more vulnerable to heart diseases and strokes
By ANITuesday, August 31, 2010
London, Aug 31 (ANI): A new study indicates that men’s genes make them more prone to heart diseases and strokes.
Significant genetic variations called l-haplogroup make them 55 per cent more likely to develop coronary disease
Researchers said it was too early to tell whether the gene has a greater effect on the health of the heart than factors such as smoking and high blood pressure.
Peter Weissberg said that if the genetic variation was linked to a risk factor such as hypertension then the discovery might be useful because men with high blood pressure could be treated more aggressively.
The l-haplogroup variant is said to have arrived to Europe from the Middle East some 25,000 years ago.
It is more common in northern Europe - raising speculation that it might explain why heart disease rates are higher in the UK than in Mediterranean countries.
“We are a long way off being able to judge the potency of this genetic effect. This will not be a test you can get in the near future,” the Daily Mail quoted Weissberg as saying. (ANI)