Researchers estimated that carriers had close to 80 percent chance of developing heart failure after the age of 45
Singapore: A new study, conducted by the scientists at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, revealed that up to 8 percent of Indians and other South Asians are carriers of a mutated gene that causes heart failures and potentially fatal heart attacks.
The research, published in the journal of Biological Chemistry, demonstrated how the gene impaired heart's ability to pump blood affecting an estimated 55 million south Asian descents worldwide.
The scientists suggested that the discovery could help in early prevention and treatments. According to the team, the mutation causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common form of inherited cardiac disease and the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people.
Researchers estimated that carriers had close to 80 percent chance of developing heart failure after the age of 45. The findings point the way toward future treatments that would remove the mutant protein from cells and introduce normal cMyBP-C protein. Researchers also hope to identify lifestyle and environmental risk factors that aggravate hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in people who carry the gene mutation.
