Genes affect hereditary coronary heart disease risk but family lifestyle does not, according to a new study. While it’s long been known that hereditary factors influence this risk, it hasn’t been clear whether this is due to genes or unhealthy lifestyle in the family, the Swedish researchers said. In order to answer that question, the investigators examined the health records of 80,214 adopted men and women in Sweden who were born in 1932 or later and developed coronary heart disease between 1973 and 2008. The researchers also studied the participants’ adoptive and biological parents.
