From Deseret News archives:
Heart-disease researchers turn to genealogy
On Wednesday they launched the Intermountain Genealogical Registry, with a goal of finding the genetic underpinnings of various forms of heart disease to aid diagnosis and treatment.
"A lot of studies demonstrate that family history is important, that there's a genetic component," said Dr. Brent Muhlestein, director of cardiovascular research at LDS Hospital. "It's a large dream to figure out the genes and use the information to tailor and devise therapies, but it's very hard."
About 70 million Americans have heart disease. Researchers believe multiple genes contribute to types of heart disease. "Only a few heart problems, like Long QT, have been associated with specific-point mutations," Muhlestein said.
Most research centers on one of three approaches: linkage analysis of siblings with a heart disease that searches for genetic matches, study of the proteins involved in a disease to see if genes associated with them are good "candidate genes," and examination of families with heavy disease burden to see whether phenotyping will identify responsible genes.
LDS Hospital hired a private company to mine publicly available genealogical data to construct the new database. It will be linked to the patient clinical information and genealogy charts to pinpoint relationships and help identify both those families with a lot of heart disease and those without it, said Benjamin Horne, Ph.D., cardiovascular clinical epidemiologist. Information from heart patients will be added to the database on an ongoing basis.
Researchers suspect genetics makes a substantial contribution to heart diseases, Horne said. "But there are a whole list of other factors that are not genetic, such as smoking, physical activity and being sedentary and poor diet. ...
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