Gene Ups Heart Disease Risk in Europeans, Amnesia in Science Journalists

In less than 24 hours, news that a common genetic variation ups heart disease risk by 60 percent -- published online yesterday in Science -- has been reported in 55 separate articles and 126 different publications.

The scientists say they hope a test for the variant can be developed to enable doctors to assess patients at risk more accurately and to recommend early interventions like cholesterol-lowering statins and methods to reduce blood pressure. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.

The new finding, published online yesterday in the journal
Science, is one of a spate of discoveries about the genetic bases of common diseases. Last week seven new genetic variants involved in the most common form of diabetes were identified, and a batch of new genes from other common diseases is expected to be reported in the next few weeks.

These discoveries are a long-promised fruit of the $3 billion Human Genome Project, which was essentially completed in 2003.

Interestingly, not a single writer saw fit to mention this study, published just one month ago:

People who undergo genetic testing to predict their chance of developing heart disease may be wasting their time, suggests a new study that shows that most of these tests don't actually work.

In a US study published today in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, genetic testing failed to find any gene mutations that predict a higher risk of heart disease.

The researchers worked up the genetic profiles of nearly 1500 people to examine 85 variants in 70 genes.

These were genetic variants that smaller, earlier studies suggested might confer susceptibility to heart problems like a heart attack, unstable angina or atherosclerosis.

Only one genetic variation showed even a modest association to heart problems in the study, the researchers report.

Obviously, the JAMA study doesn't disprove this latest association, but it does provide some much-needed context: before getting carried away by the latest genetic risk findings, wait for them to be replicated.

Gene Identified as Risk Factor for Heart Ills [New York Times]

DNA tests for heart disease don't work [Reuters]

Image: Ami Shah