Those with a high genetic risk of coronary artery disease are 91% more likely to suffer an adverse cardiac event compared to people with low genetic risk.

A research team evaluated cardiovascular disease incidence among 55,685 participants in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.¹

The findings reveal that a favorable lifestyle is associated with a 46% lower rate of coronary artery disease at any time point during the study period in people at high genetic risk.¹

This 46% lower rate was based on a comparison to individuals at high genetic risk who did not adhere to healthier lifestyles.

What should perk your interest are the four lifestyle choices evaluated. To slash cardiovascular disease risk, all it took were:

• Healthy diet
• No current smoking
• Regular physical activity
• No obesity

Following just three of four of the above healthier lifestyles yielded benefits.

More aggressive management of vascular risks could have further lowered coronary disease incidence.

This study was not designed to measure cardiovascular disease risk factors in blood (like glucose, homocysteine, apolipoprotein B)² and blood pressure.

That might explain why there was only a 46% reduction in the high genetic risk group who followed the favorable lifestyles.

This article describes what more can be done to reduce today's number one killer, i.e., heart attack, and also ischemic stroke.³

Genetic and lifestyle factors strongly influence one's risk of coronary artery disease.⁴

The purpose of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine was to assess the effects of healthy lifestyles on coronary artery disease risk and the increase of coronary artery calcification in people with varying degrees of family history of cardiovascular issues.

DNA sequence was used to quantify genetic risk for coronary artery disease in this large group.

The primary study end point was a composite of events that included heart attack (myocardial infarction), coronary revascularization, and death from coronary causes.

One arm of the study also analyzed coronary calcification scores.

The relative risk of coronary events was 91% higher among people at high genetic risk (top DNA quintile) compared to those at low genetic risk (bottom DNA quintile).

Effect of Favorable Lifestyles

Healthy diet, no current smoking, regular physical activity, and no obesity were associated with decreased rates of coronary artery disease in those with intermediate-to-high family history.

The riskiest behavior was smoking. Non-smokers were 44% less likely to suffer a coronary event, despite higher genetic risk.

Lean individuals were 34% less at risk compared to the obese.

Regular physical activity reduced coronary risk by 12% and healthy diet reduced risk by 9%.

Among participants in the highest genetic risk group, a favorable lifestyle was associated with a 46% lower rate of coronary artery disease compared to high genetic risk individuals who were following unfavorable lifestyles.

A favorable lifestyle was also associated with significantly less coronary-artery calcification in each genetic risk category.

What is a “Healthy Diet”?

A healthy diet pattern was based on adherence to what was described as a heart-healthy diet as follows:

• Higher consumption of fruits, nuts, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and dairy products, and
• Reduced intake of refined grains, processed meats, unprocessed red meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fats (one cohort only), and sodium (one cohort only).

The "healthy diet" patterns defined in this study resemble the Mediterranean diet, though vast improvements could be made to reduce coronary events further.

For instance, the majority of calories you consume should come from fruits, nuts, fish, whole grains, legumes, and other plant foods.

And limited amounts of your diet should be processed meats, unprocessed red meats, refined grains, and sugar-sweetened beverages. (Refer here to view a list of toxic foods to avoid.)

Diet patterns in this study were assessed by food-frequency questionnaires that can have high error rates. That's because people do not always have a strong recall of their real-world food and beverage intake.

These factors might explain why a "healthy diet" reduced the rate of coronary artery disease by only 9% whereas greater reductions occurred in high genetic risk people who avoided smoking and obesity and engaged in regular physical activity. (It's easy to identify smoking and obesity compared to data obtained from food-questionnaires.)

The authors of this study concluded that:

"After quantifying both genetic and lifestyle risk among 55,685 participants in three prospective cohorts and one cross-sectional study, we found that adherence to a healthy lifestyle was associated with a substantially reduced risk of coronary artery disease within each category of genetic risk."¹

More Should be Done!

We at Life Extension advocated decades ago for more aggressive interventions to prevent and treat atherosclerosis.

In addition to heart attack and ischemic stroke, arterial/vascular diseases also contribute to:

• Several types of Dementia^5-7
• Peripheral arterial disease^8-10
• Heart failure^10-12
• Renal artery stenosis^8,13,14
• Carotid artery stenosis and embolization¹⁵
• Kidney failure¹⁶
• Hypertension¹⁷
• Aortic calcification^18,19
• Mesenteric artery disease²⁰
• Erectile dysfunction^21-23
• Frailty^24,25
• Accelerated aging¹⁸

Family history of cardiovascular disease is a known risk factor. There are, however, specific genetic influences, such as lipid and glucose imbalances that can be reversed if caught in time.

Diagnostic Tests Enable Early Detection

Blood tests identify risk factors that are correctable before a catastrophic event strikes.

Life Extension’s Male and Female Panel Lab Tests measure common atherosclerotic biomarkers including glucose, fasting insulin and A1C.

In people with early-stage insulin resistance, high fasting insulin can suppress glucose and A1C, thus masking a smoldering type II diabetic disorder. Serious tissue damage occurs during this prediabetic stage.

The time to reduce elevated glucose + A1C + fasting insulin is before full blown type II diabetes strikes.

And the period to control other damaging risk factors is before one suffers a heart attack or ischemic stroke.

No one interested in healthy longevity should tolerate hypertension. Effective medications are widely available to lower blood pressure.

The New England Journal of Medicine published study showed that those at high genetic risk for cardiovascular disease attain significant protection by following favorable lifestyles.

Even greater benefits can be achieved by controlling risk factors that are easily detectable with diagnostic testing.

Many of you purchased our comprehensive Male or Female Blood Test Panel earlier this year. If any vascular pathologies were detected, you should re-test your blood for these specific atherosclerotic factors after initiating corrective actions.

Be it lifestyle changes or new medications, you want to check and see if you are moving your cardiovascular health measures (like lipid and glycemic markers) into safer, cardio-protective ranges.

For longer life,

William Faloon, Co-Founder
Life Extension®

References

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