Study Finds More Heart Disease Genes

New research may speed the day when people can have gene tests to learn their risk of heart disease. The largest study looked at the genes of 3,000 people who had heart attacks early in life. They were compared with 3,000 people who never had a heart attack. Researchers found gene differences in up to nine areas for people who had heart attacks. Three had not been found in previous research. People with a lot of these gene differences had 2½ times the heart attack risk of people with few or none. The study was published online by the journal Nature Genetics. Other studies in the journal also dealt with genes and heart disease. HealthDay News wrote about the studies February 8.