BBC news reported that new research has confirmed that men do tend to inherit the genes that make them predisposed to heart conditions from their father.
The research revealed that in particular there is one version of the Y chromosome that when passed from a father to a son will increase the risk of the son having heart disease by almost 50%.The research took a close look at variation in the Y chromosome that forms a foetus as it develops into a male. Only men have this
chromosome making it a reason that men have a higher risk of cancer then women. The researchers took a close look at the variation of the Y chromosome in 3,000 men that were not related to each other and then placed the men into groups based on the variations that were common among them.
At this point the researchers then took a close look at associations between the gene types and the associated risk of developing coronary artery disease. They discovered that men that had a specific variation had double the risk of heart disease compared to men in the other genetic groups.
The increase was noted to be independent of other risk factors that have already been identified as contributing to a heightened risk of heart disease such as economic and lifestyle factors. Despite this fact, lifestyle factors still play a large role as they can be modified to help reduce the overall risk of suffering a heart attack.
