In addition to the already identified main factors of cardiac arrest, among which ventricular fibrillation predominates, leading to the complete cessation of the activity of the muscular organ in 90% of cases, as well as additional causes in the form of heart disease, etc., a new risk factor for such a condition has been investigated. Rambler cites the results of many years of work by scientists, published in the Medical Xpress edition.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University analyzed genetic information from 600 people living and healthy, as well as those who died from cardiac arrest. Cardiologists in their study relied on 49 genes closely associated with cardiovascular disease.
According to Amit Hera, MD, PhD, the sample was based on genes that contribute to any of four causes of sudden death: a weak heart due to impaired pumping function, heart attack, heart rhythm problems, and a ruptured main blood vessel.
The analysis revealed 14 variations in seven genes, with at least one being found in 15 subjects who died of cardiac arrest. Scientists have observed a group of 4,500 healthy people for 14 years, of which 41 were carriers of these mutations. That is, the so-called "lethal" set of genes is in 1% of people.
As cardiologists clarify, such an anomaly does not always end in cardiac arrest, but the risk of sudden death in such people is increased threefold. Here, indirect causes, such as bad habits and high blood pressure, are important factors.