Sekar Kathiresan, MD
Genetic Risk, Adherence to a Healthy Lifestyle, and Coronary Disease

N Engl J Med November 13, 2016. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1605086

Both genetic and lifestyle factors contribute to individual-level risk of coronary artery disease. The extent to which increased genetic risk can be offset by a healthy lifestyle is unknown. Across four studies involving 55,685 participants, genetic and lifestyle factors were independently associated with susceptibility to coronary artery disease. Among par- ticipants at high genetic risk, a favorable lifestyle was associated with a nearly 50% lower relative risk of coronary artery disease than was an unfavorable lifestyle. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.)

 Genetic-Risk-Adherence-to-a-Healthy-Lifestyle-and-Coronary-Disease.pdf