Some genes linked to hypertension affect blood pressure from an early age and raise the risk of cardiovascular disease as you age. Still, there is something you can do about it. We may be discussing variations in blood pressure that are within the range of normal because they are so tiny. According to PhD candidate Karsten Ovretveit of the Department of Public Health and Nursing at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), “The issue is that they usually last your entire life.” He is one of the scientists that worked on a recent study that examined the connection between population blood pressure and gene variations. According to the study, high blood pressure is a condition that affects people of all ages and is inherited.
“We found that genetic factors affect blood pressure from the first years of childhood and throughout your entire life,” says Ovretveit. Genetic data from large population studies.
Heart attacks and strokes are mostly caused by high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease is Norway’s second leading cause of mortality, accounting for 23 per cent of all deaths in 2022.
The direct medical cause of high blood pressure is unknown in many cases, but research shows that our genes play a significant role.
“Lifestyle diseases are often caused by a combination of heredity and environment. Diseases are often the result of not only one but very many genetic variants,” says Ovretveit.
Genetic information from extensive population studies has been used by researchers to determine an individual’s relative risk of high blood pressure. They have been able to create a genetic risk score as a result, which shows the exact level of risk associated with your genetic makeup. Creating risk scores based on genetics To put it simply, each gene variant is assigned a value that indicates how much of an impact it can have on blood pressure. The genetic risk score is then the total of the genetic effects after the variants are “weighted,” meaning that some genes carry a greater weight than others. By doing this, those who are especially vulnerable can be found and early intervention can be implemented before the condition manifests.
