Some genes related to high blood pressure influence blood pressure from an early age, increasing the risk of heart disease as we age. However, you can do something about it.
“We’re talking about really small differences, so small that they can fall within what is considered normal blood pressure. The problem is that they persist for your entire life,” said Dr. At the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. says PhD candidate Carsten Overwet. NTNU) Department of Public Health and Nursing. He is one of the researchers on a new study that looked at the relationship between gene variants and blood pressure in a population.
Studies show that high blood pressure occurs in all age groups and is related to hereditary factors.
“We found that genetic factors influence blood pressure from the first years of childhood and throughout your life,” Overweight says. Genetic data from large population studies.
Heart attacks and strokes are mostly caused by high blood pressure, and heart disease is the second leading cause of mortality in Norway, accounting for 23 percent of all deaths in 2022.
In many cases the direct medical cause of high blood pressure is unknown, but research suggests that our genes play an important role.
“Lifestyle-related diseases are often caused by a combination of heredity and environment. Diseases are often the result of multiple genetic variants, not just one,” says Overweight.
To find out how at risk a person is for high blood pressure,
Researchers have used genetic data obtained from studies of large populations. This has helped them develop a genetic risk score, which tells you how much risk your exact genetic makeup puts you at. Developing a genetic risk score
In very simple terms, a certain value is placed on each gene variant, indicating the extent to which it can affect blood pressure. The variants are then “weighted”, that is, some genes have more weight than others, and the genetic risk score is then the sum of the genetic effects.
“This way, people who are particularly at risk can be identified, and measures can be taken at an early stage, before the condition becomes pronounced.
“By keeping their blood pressure at a low level, people with high genetic risk scores may have lower risk of disease than people with high blood pressure, whom we consider genetically protected,” Overweight says.
To study the importance of genetic risk, researchers used health data from participants in Trøndelag’s HUNT study and the British ‘Children of the ’90s’ study. The latter includes health data on approximately 14,000 children from birth to their twenties. The Health Survey in Trøndelag (HUNT) is a large, Norwegian population-based health survey that includes health information and biological material from residents of Trøndelag. Since the first collection round in 1984, 250,000 people from Trondheim have participated.
By comparing the blood pressure of children who had the highest genetic risk with those who were lowest on the scale, the researchers were able to see how the average blood pressure in the first group was higher as early as age three. This difference persisted throughout their childhood and became more pronounced in adulthood.
The difference increases with age
“Although the difference in blood pressure is not very large, the time component is important. If your blood pressure is slightly elevated over several years, it will affect how susceptible you are to heart disease and kidney disease,” says Overtwit. When researchers compared the risk scores and health data of HUNT study participants, they observed that the difference in blood pressure between the highest and lowest risk participants persisted throughout their lives.
“We were able to follow the same people from when they were about 37 years old until they were about 70 years old. We found that the differences persisted and resulted in different disease risks, where the differences in disease were quite large. “
The researchers found even more positive results: If measures such as lifestyle changes and medications are taken, the risk of the disease can be significantly reduced.
“By keeping their blood pressure at a low level, people with high genetic risk scores may have a lower risk of disease than people with high blood pressure, whom we think are genetically protected. It seems that controlling your blood pressure More than genetics matters,” says Overweight.
Large population studies provide good data
As a basis for the study, Overweight and colleagues used the findings of the largest genetic study on blood pressure currently available, involving data from more than one million people. Overweight believes the study reflects the possibilities that lie in genetic data obtained from studies of large populations.
“I don’t think you should start measuring blood pressure in every single child, but the type of data we used in this study can be used in the future to not only prevent disease but to address risk factors associated with disease.” , “says Overweight.
Is it a problem that Europeans are overrepresented in population studies?
“Yes, it is, but we are now actively working on developing genetic risk scores that are adapted to other populations, and that can be used in many different populations,” Overtveit says.
To date, researchers have identified approximately 1500 gene variants that have a clear association with blood pressure, but the biological effect of many of these genes on blood pressure is not known. To find a reliable method, researchers had to identify, through a process of trial and error, high-risk combinations of gene variants and combinations that created low risk.
“A common way to create a risk score for a genetic disease is to include only those gene variants that are strongly associated with the disease,” says Overweight.
But there are other ways such as involving gene variants that produce effects that we are more unsure about. As a result, we get a lot of data in the calculations.
“Complex blood pressure traits may be influenced by far more gene variants than we have identified so far. The methods we have developed allow us to take this into account, but we also have to keep in mind that the individual effects of these variants may be small. Are,” Overweight says.
The method that gave the most accurate risk score included more than one million gene variants.
“But there are many more that have a known connection to high blood pressure,” says Overweight.
