Dodging DNA Destiny

After reading your articles in The Saturday Evening Post, I felt compelled to send you a question about diastolic dysfunction. I’m interested in knowing if a genetic marker has been identified and if a test is available. I have high blood pressure and a strong paternal family history of heart disease. Otherwise, I’m a relatively healthy 37-year-old female. If it’s genetic, am I doomed to the same fate as those in my family, or are there preventive measures that can be taken to avert one’s own DNA destiny?

No genetic marker of which I am aware has yet been identified. Diastolic heart failure and congestive heart disease are linked to high blood pressure, so control of your BP would seem to be the most important thing you can do. Genetics load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger. Therefore, you can escape the bullet by changing the environment with adequate BP control.

Heartbeat

Cardiac Test Basics

Please explain the difference between an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram. What exactly do these tests tell doctors about the heart?

Give the Gift of Life

My brother-in-law just turned 50 and needs a new heart. We sometimes hear that wealthy people get donor organs quicker than others. Is this true? How long is the usual wait for a new heart?

Low-Dose Aspirin for Heart Health

What is the latest information about taking daily baby aspirin to help the heart?

Heart Defect Often Causes No Symptoms

I had a stroke in 2003, and a diagnostic test showed a “hole” in my heart with no right-to-left shunt. The shunt didn’t show up on a different kind of test in 2009, either. I came through the stroke fine because I went to the hospital right away and have been on warfarin ever since. My question is: If there’s no shunt, is the hole present?

Surgery Corrects Heart Rhythm

Q: How does the Maze treatment for atrial fibrillation work, and what does it involve? A: The Maze procedure is open heart surgery to eliminate rapid heartbeats. It involves making a series of incisions in the top portion of the heart, the atria. In experienced hands, the procedure is successful in more than 90 percent [...]