A new study suggests two genes linked to heart disease may allow for earlier screening and prevention of the deadly disease.
Two independent groups of researchers, including those at the Ottawa Heart Institute, have identified a stetch of DNA that is associated with a 30 to 40 per cent increase in the risk of premature heart disease among Caucasians.
"We have found a genetic variant which is strongly associated with heart disease. This is important because it is a common variation that affects a large proportion of the population," Dr. Ruth McPherson of the Ottawa Heart Institute told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Scientists used a method called genome-wide association scanning to survey the genomes of patients with coronary heart disease as well as the genomes of healthy individuals.
Researchers found approximately one-quarter of Caucasian people have two copies of this genetic variant, which would put them at higher risk for early heart disease.
"It's an important finding because if we can identify people who are at high risk of heart disease, then we can start early with all sorts of preventative therapies like lifestyle, not smoking, medications like aspirin," McPherson said.
Establishing a genetic link could prompt people with a family history of the disease to undergo earlier screening or change their lifestyle.
"We need a better idea of who out there in the currently healthy population is actually at most risk of heart disease...these are the ones that would benefit the most from preventative therapies," McPherson said.
Mark Amodeo, who had his first heart attack when he was 27 years old, participated in the study. He has a long history of heart disease in his family, with his father, mother and brother all suffering from the disease.
"I couldn't believe what was happening to one family...where everybody was getting taken by a heart attack...it was surprising," Amodeo told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Amodeo has willing donated his blood to a variety of research projects underway at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in an effort to save his 20-month-old son Dominic from going through what he and his family have gone through.
"If I can contribute any way through DNA and gene therapy I will be behind it 100 per cent," Amodeo said.
The initial study was conducted using blood samples from 23,000 individuals from Canada and the U.S. and Denmark.
More than 20 per cent of participants carried two copies of the gene variant, corresponding to a more than 60 per cent increased risk of heart attack, compared to those without the genetic change.
The genes are estimated to account for about one-fifth of the incidence of heart attacks in populations of European origin and nearly one-third of early onset cases.
Coronary heart disease is the single greatest cause of death worldwide.
Nearly 75, 000 Canadians died from cardiovascular disease in 2002, according to Statistics Canada.
According to Health Canada's 1998 report, "Economic Burden of Illness in Canada", cardiovascular diseases costs the Canadian economy over $18 billion a year.
