A study from the Mayo Clinic presented at this week’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago caught my eye. Researchers looked at the medical records of 1,262 people who had no history of heart disease. Using the standard Framingham Risk Score (FRS) which factors in age, sex, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes and smoking status, they calculated the ten-year probability of heart attack.
They then performed genetic tests on these patients’ existing blood samples to find if any of 11 genetic variants were present. Called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) these variants have been found to be potential risk factors for heart attack. Continue reading