Cardiovascular disease: knowing that we have a genetic risk influences our behavior

Notifying some people that they have a genetic risk for cardiovascular disease may favorably influence their behavior, according to a new Finnish study. Researchers assessed the genetic risk of cardiovascular disease in 7,328 people and reported the results to them. 90% of them said that this information helped them take better care of their health. 18 months later, 17% of smokers in the cohort had quit. 13.7% were successful in losing weight.

Understanding of genetic risk

“It was the apprehension of the genetic risk that triggered these changes in behavior,” specifies Elisabeth Widen, lead author of the study. Many participants, for example, already knew that they had too high cholesterol levels, without this. do not evolve them. “

Members of the cohort will be followed for the next 20 years to see if their behavior change continues. “Since they have been successful in sustaining these changes for 1.5 years, we expect them to continue their momentum,” says Dr Widen. According to the researchers, giving as much information as possible to a patient’s state of health promotes independent management, regardless of the disease. It remains to be seen whether, on the other hand, people who realize that they have a low genetic risk for cardiovascular disease begin to adopt risky behaviors.

28 billion euros

In France, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in people over 65, with 150,000 deaths each year. The amount of annual expenditure related to these diseases amounts to some 28 billion euros. Cardiovascular disease includes coronary heart disease, which affects the coronary vessels supplying the heart muscle; cerebrovascular diseases, affecting the vessels that supply the brain; peripheral arterial disease, affecting arteries in the arms and legs; rheumatic heart disease, due to rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcus; cardiac birth defects and finally venous thrombosis.