SCIENTISTS have found a genetic explanation for why men are more likely than women to suffer heart attacks and strokes.
Significant genetic variations called l-haplogroup make them 55 per cent more likely to develop coronary disease
Researchers said it was too early to tell whether the gene has a greater effect on the health of the heart than factors such as smoking and high blood pressure.
Peter Weissberg said that if the genetic variation was linked to a risk factor such as hypertension then the discovery might be useful because men with high blood pressure could be treated more aggressively.
The l-haplogroup variant is said to have arrived to Europe from the Middle East some 25,000 years ago.
It is more common in northern Europe – raising speculation that it might explain why heart disease rates are higher in the UK than in Mediterranean countries.
“We are a long way off being able to judge the potency of this genetic effect. This will not be a test you can get in the near future,” the Daily Mail quoted Weissberg as saying.
Source: Times of India, The Australian
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