压力基因或与心脏病有联系

开始神话

--据估计现在社会每十人中会有一个人有压力基因的突变，这种突变使得你们对压力更为敏感。而决定这种情况的基因突变最近被发现与心脏病的发生率也有很大联系。根据一项发表在PLOS ONE上的研究显示，携带有这一基因突变的人患有心脏病的风险增大了38%。来自杜克大学的研究人员是在研究人感受外界压力的相关基因突变的过程中发现这一联系的。在研究人员调查的6000名心脏病患者中，有10%的男性和3%的女性都存在这种联系。

来自英国心脏病基金会的Prof Jeremy Pearson认为这一研究进一步揭示了人所承受的压力与患心脏病的风险之间的联系。这也为个性化医疗的完善进一步提供了依据。

详细英文报道：

About one in 10 people have a genetic change linked to being more sensitive to stress

A stress gene has been linked to having a higher risk of dying from a heart attack or heart disease.

Heart patients with the genetic change had a 38% increased risk of heart attack or death, say US researchers.

Personalised medicine may lead to better targeting of psychological or drug treatment to those most at risk, they report in PLOS ONE.

The study adds to evidence stress may directly increase heart disease risk, says the British Heart Foundation.

A team at Duke University School of Medicine studied a single DNA letter change in the human genome, which has been linked to being more vulnerable to the effects of stress.

They found heart patients with the genetic change had a 38% increased risk of heart attack or death from heart disease after seven years of follow up compared with those without, even after taking into account factors like age, obesity and smoking.

This suggests that stress management techniques and drug therapies could reduce deaths and disability from heart attacks, they say.

Dr Redford Williams, director of the Behavioural Medicine Research Center at Duke University School of Medicine, said the work is the first step towards finding genetic variants that identify people at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

"This is one step towards the day when we will be able to identify people on the basis of this genotype who are at higher risk of developing heart disease in the first place," he told BBC News.

"That's a step in the direction of personalised medicine for cardiovascular disease."

Identifying people with the genetic change could lead to early interventions for heart patients who are at high risk of dying or having a heart attack, say the researchers.

About one in 10 of men and 3% of women in the group of 6,000 heart patients studied had the genetic change associated with handling emotional stress badly.

Commenting on the study, Prof Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said the results provided further evidence that stress may directly increase heart disease risk.

"By finding a possible mechanism behind this relationship, these researchers have suggested tackling the problem either by changing behaviour or, if needed, with existing medicines," he said.

"There are positive lifestyle changes you can make to help you cope with stress. A balanced diet and regular physical activity will help you feel better able to cope with life's demands.

"If you often feel anxious and you're worried about your stress levels, make an appointment to talk it through with your doctor."

开始神话

压力基因或与心脏病有联系