Adelaide
02-09-2013, 09:09 PM
A large international study has identified a gene mutation that increases the risk of developing a common and potentially fatal condition called aortic valve disease.
The work pinpoints a mutation on a gene responsible for the production of a type of cholesterol known as lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a).
The lead author, Dr. George Thanassoulis of McGill University in Montreal, says the mutation is found in about 13 per cent of people of European descent.
It occurs to a lesser degree in people of African-American and Hispanic ethnicity, but is barely seen in people of Chinese-American ancestry.
...
"We prevent heart attacks, we prevent other things in cardiovascular medicine but we don't prevent valve disease," he says.
Thanassoulis says there is reason to believe niacin, one of the B vitamins, might be useful in preventing development of the condition. Niacin is known to lower levels of Lp(a).
Thanassoulis says he and colleagues at McGill hope to conduct a clinical trial to see if giving niacin to people with this gene mutation could forestall development of aortic stenosis.
Heart Valve Genetics - CBC news (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/02/07/heart-valve-genetics.html)
This is cool research. Seriously cool.
The work pinpoints a mutation on a gene responsible for the production of a type of cholesterol known as lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a).
The lead author, Dr. George Thanassoulis of McGill University in Montreal, says the mutation is found in about 13 per cent of people of European descent.
It occurs to a lesser degree in people of African-American and Hispanic ethnicity, but is barely seen in people of Chinese-American ancestry.
...
"We prevent heart attacks, we prevent other things in cardiovascular medicine but we don't prevent valve disease," he says.
Thanassoulis says there is reason to believe niacin, one of the B vitamins, might be useful in preventing development of the condition. Niacin is known to lower levels of Lp(a).
Thanassoulis says he and colleagues at McGill hope to conduct a clinical trial to see if giving niacin to people with this gene mutation could forestall development of aortic stenosis.
Heart Valve Genetics - CBC news (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/02/07/heart-valve-genetics.html)
This is cool research. Seriously cool.