Meeting Healthy Benchmarks Could Stave Off Heart Disease for Many Years

By Jonathan Springston, Editor, Relias Media

Closely following certain healthy living rules could offset genetic heart disease risk, allowing one to live many more years without developing heart disease, according to the results of a recent analysis.

In a population-based cohort study, investigators gathered data on participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (no coronary heart disease at baseline, age 45 years or older, 8,372 white participants, 2,314 Black participants). The authors calculated a polygenic risk score (PRS) using more than 6 million genetic variants and created three categories: low (< 20th percentile), intermediate, and high (> 80th percentile).

Investigators also relied on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 (LS7), a list of risk factors patients can improve through lifestyle changes (e.g., stop smoking, exercise more, control cholesterol). At baseline, the authors calculated a LS7 score and created three categories: poor, intermediate, and ideal. Using PRS and LS7 scores, the authors determined lifetime risk and years free of coronary heart disease.

Participants who practiced the healthiest lifestyles were 16.6% likely to develop coronary heart disease during their remaining lifespan vs. 43.1% for participants living the least healthy lifestyle. For white participants at high genetic risk, sticking to an ideal healthy lifestyle could mean as many as 20 more years without coronary heart disease. However, it was only 4.5 years for Black participants.

The authors noted there needs to be improvements in PRS calculations — specifically, these scores usually are built on data collected from participants of European lineage. Thus, it is difficult to calculate PRS for patients of non-European lineage, and it may not be advisable to apply some of these conclusions too broadly until more diverse data are collected.

Nevertheless, it seems all patients can improve their long-term outlook by sticking to healthy living habits and paying attention to modifiable risk factors.

February is American Heart Month. For 2022, the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is focused on preventing hypertension. For more critical analysis of the latest clinical research in cardiovascular medicine, check out the newest issues of Clinical Cardiology Alert.