DNA Screening for High Blood Pressure

[Angel]

Years of collecting data from families with high blood pressure has helped researchers discover a link between hypertension and a particular gene variation. The discovery helps explain why some people get high blood pressure and others don't.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor tracked hundreds of families in the small, nearby town of Tecumseh and gathered data for more than 45 years. Recently, they reported the discovery of a link between a particular gene variation and high blood pressure.

By studying DNA samples from the Tecumseh families, the scientists found a gene involved in regulating the chemical dopamine in the body is also involved in regulating blood pressure.

Researchers, however, say just because someone inherits a gene for high blood pressure doesn't mean they are doomed to suffer a stroke or heart attack. Other factors like diet and exercise also play a large role in the regulating of blood pressure.

"Studying the genetics of hypertension may allow us to predict who is going to get it before they do. And if we could predict the individual characteristics that would put someone at risk for hypertension, presumably we could figure out strategies to intervene and prevent the disease," says Alan Weder, M.D., cardiologist and blood pressure specialist. "Clearly, that would be preferable to just treating it life-long."