Adhering to Life's Simple 7 May Cut CHD Risk Despite Genetics

Ideal adherence to the American Heart Association (AHA) Life's Simple 7 (LS7) guidelines is associated with a lower lifetime risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), regardless of genetic risk, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in Circulation.

Natalie R. Hasbani, M.P.H., from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and colleagues analyzed data for 8,372 White and 2,314 Black adults, aged 45 years and older, who were free of CHD at baseline. Participants were categorized according to polygenic risk score (PRS), which included more than 6 million genetic variants, and according to the LS7 score.

The researchers found that the remaining lifetime risk was 27 percent overall, varying from 16.6 to 43.1 percent for those with an ideal and poor LS7 score, respectively. The association between PRS and lifetime risk varied according to ancestry: Remaining lifetime risk ranged from 19.8 to 39.3 percent with increasing PRS categories among White participants. The remaining lifetime risk was 67.1 percent for individuals with a high PRS and poor LS7, and they had 15.9 fewer CHD-free years compared with those with intermediate polygenic risk and LS7 scores. Ideal LS7 was associated with 20.2 more CHD-free years compared with poor LS7 in the high-PRS group. Remaining lifetime risk varied from 19.1 to 28.6 percent according to increasing PRS category among Black participants. Among those with poor LS7, estimates of lifetime risk were similar regardless of PRS category.

"We found that regardless of a person's genetic predisposition, they can lower their chances of developing coronary heart disease by adhering to the AHA's Life's Simple 7 guidelines, but those with the highest polygenic risk stood to gain the most," Hasbani said in a statement.