It has long been known that some people are more susceptible to heartbreak than others are. But
research from the Yale School of Medicine and Celera Diagnostics has revealed that a certain gene mutation can make some people more likely to suffer from a literal break in their heart-specifically, ruptures in the wall of the aorta, the main artery of the heart and the largest one found in the human body. Thoracic aortic aneurysms, or bulges in the wall of the aorta, can develop completely undetected and lead to full ruptures. If these ruptures are not treated immediately, death can become imminent.
A protein called FBN-1 is imperative for providing strength to the walls of the aorta. After studying hundreds of patients at the Yale medical center, scientists confirmed that a genetic variation called rs2118181 put patients at a higher risk for thoracic aortic aneurysms and subsequent ruptures. While surgeries for these ruptures can work wonders, identifying people who are at risk early on will be an important step for ensuring that more lives are saved than lost in the future.
I find this article pretty interesting. I feel like I sometimes forget that everything about us is related to genes and mutations they do or do not have. You don't always think of heart disease as a genetic mutation.
ReplyDeleteI find this article very intriguing. Mostly because i didn't really know the heart could have genetic mutations. However, i guess it is a good thing that scientists have found this mutation because they can do further research on it. Scientists can find out what causes this mutation or they can find out how they can fix it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. very scary at the same time. people need to be educated more on this esp. on their heart!
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