Is heart disease really hereditary?

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are diseases that many elderly people suffer from, and heart disease is also a disease with a high mortality rate. Many people don’t understand whether heart disease can be inherited. The possibility of heart disease being inherited cannot be ruled out, because many diseases have genetic factors, and heart disease is no exception.

1. Coronary heart disease

Studies have found that the incidence of coronary heart disease has a clear familial tendency.

If one of the parents suffers from coronary heart disease, the risk of their children suffering from the disease is twice that of children with both parents being healthy. If both parents suffer from coronary heart disease, the risk of their children developing the disease is four times that of children with normal parents. If both parents suffer from coronary heart disease in their early years, the incidence rate of their children is 5 times higher than that of children of parents without coronary heart disease.

From this we can see that genetic factors play a certain role in the onset of coronary heart disease, but its onset is the result of the combined effects of internal and external factors. If all family members of a patient with coronary heart disease can jointly change bad habits such as high-fat diet, high calories, high salt, smoking, and alcoholism, and at the same time strengthen physical exercise, then the risk of coronary heart disease will decrease. Therefore, the fact that the previous generation suffered from coronary heart disease does not mean that the next generation will definitely suffer from coronary heart disease. The disease can be avoided by improving living habits and environment.

2. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Most (50%-70%) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is caused by gene mutation, so some people define hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as "congenital heart disease."

At present, more than 400 mutations in at least 13 genes have been found to cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is an autosomal dominant inheritance. Statistically speaking, if one parent has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, there is a 50% chance that the offspring will inherit the disease.

The main symptom of this disease is dyspnea, and in severe cases, it may present as orthopnea or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea and angina pectoris; its main complications include arrhythmia, heart failure, sudden death, etc. Patients should pay attention to avoid overwork and excessive mental stress in their daily lives. If the father or mother is a known patient and the gene mutation is identified, their children can be screened for the gene mutation to prevent the patient from being inherited before clinical symptoms appear, or even on the first day of birth. Therefore, when facing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, people should do a good job of genetic screening and take precautions in advance.

3. Long QT syndrome

Long QT syndrome is a heart disease related to heart rhythm. Experts currently believe that it is caused by mutations in genes that regulate ion channels that repolarize ventricular muscle cell membranes.

Long QT syndrome is a phenomenon in which the QT interval on the electrocardiogram is prolonged. Although this disease is rare, there is still a chance of 2 people in every 10,000 suffering from it. Its clinical manifestations are mainly recurrent syncope and sudden death caused by torsades de pointes. Symptoms in most patients occur during exercise, emotional tension, and excitement. Syncope generally lasts 1-2 minutes. Some patients die suddenly during sleep.

4. Dilated cardiomyopathy

The disease is mainly manifested by affected myocardial function. There is currently no clear cause. It may be due to various toxic substances, metabolites or pathogens damaging myocardial cells; it may also be due to myocardial infarction leading to myocardial fibrosis and damaging myocardial cells. Among the patient population, 20%-40% of the patient families had mutations in genes encoding the myocardial cell skeleton and contractile proteins. Although the disease is genetically heterogeneous, it occurs mostly in an autosomal dominant manner. Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy should maintain a normal schedule, drink less alcohol and stay up late, which is very beneficial to their health.