Many of those who are genetically predisposed to develop atrial fibrillation, which dramatically raises the risk of stroke, can be identified with a blood test. This is shown by new research from Lund University in Sweden.
The number of people affected by atrial fibrillation is rising rapidly, partly as a result of the ageing population.
Over recent years, a research group at Lund University in Sweden, working with other universities and hospitals in Europe and the USA, has identified twelve genetic variants in the human genome that increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. The research group has now studied the possible clinical benefits of a DNA test:
“One in five people have a genetic weakness that means they have twice as high a risk of developing atrial fibrillation as those with a low genetic risk. This genetic risk is therefore one of the strongest risk factors for atrial fibrillation that we know of in people without overt cardiac disease. It increases the risk as much as high blood pressure, for example”, said Olle Melander, Professor of Internal Medicine, and Gustav Smith, Associate Professor in Cardiology, both from Lund University.
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Robert Coronado, MD, FACC 