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Heart disease is a major problem in modern society. In fact, one in four deaths in the United States is because of heart disease. There are a number of risk factors for coronary disease including genetics, smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise. However, recent studies suggest that there may be a link between education levels and heart disease. The extent of this link, and the genetic factors that cause it, are still unknown. But the research seems to indicate that people who want to spend more time on their education may be at lower risk of coronary heart disease.

 

The Lifestyle Link between Education and Heart Disease

Recent studies on heart disease have suggested that there is a link between higher education levels and better heart health in high income countries. They found that people with higher education levels, university level and above, were less likely to develop heart diseases. This is probably due to lifestyle factors, a higher education means more money, and access to better and more frequent health checks as well as preventative medicine. People with higher education levels are also less likely to indulge in behaviors and habits that are linked to heart disease. These risky behaviors including smoking, poor diet choices, and a sedentary lifestyle. These generalizations are not across the board of course. Lots of people with higher education levels indulge in risky behaviors. But more money generally means access to better health options.

A Genetic Link

A recent study suggests a genetic element to the link between heart health and education levels. With past studies that explored this issue, the results were confounded by external factors that could not be controlled such as diet, lifestyle and income levels. A new study conducted by medical media giant The BMJ analyzed genetic variants from a sample of 543, 733 volunteers of mostly European descent. Because this study used genetic information to draw conclusions, it was less likely that lifestyle factors would confuse the results.

 

The results were startling. The study found that genetic factors that predisposed participants to spend longer periods of time in education were also connected with a lower risk of heart disease. In fact, the link was so strong that the researchers were able to predict that 3.6 years of extra education meant the risk of heart disease was decreased by a third. This is a highly significant result. If borne out by further studies, it could suggest important changes to governmental policies on general education levels in order to improve overall heart health.

 

Problems with the Study

The primary problem with the study is a lack of information on genetic variants. A genetic variant is differences in the genetic code from one individual to another. Variants are caused by mutations that occur naturally through generations of gene combinations.

 

Although this study made it obvious that there is a link between an individual’s heart disease risk and their interest in education, there is little further information on the variants. Unknown biases could have been created by this lack of knowledge. Of particular importance is exactly how these genetic variants increased the amount of time spent on education. Only time and more research will show if this direct link truly exists, or is due to unknown influences.

 

What This Means for Health Assessments

You probably don’t want to go back to college to try and avoid heart disease. And it probably doesn’t work like that anyway. Our knowledge of genetics is too limited at the moment for us to understand how the genetics variants could influence both time spent in education and heart disease risk. However, this study could and should affect how doctors screen patients for heart disease. Evaluating a patient’s education level could be an important marker when doctors are doing a risk assessment for heart disease.

 

Your Heart Health at Home

Even if you can’t change your education levels, you can acknowledge the increased risk and take measures to negate it. This means reducing your risky behaviors and habits and doing regular health checks at home and with your doctor. It also means practicing preventative medicine, getting regular exercise and eating foods that are good for your heart and for your body as a whole.

 

If you are at higher risk of heart disease, you might consider using tools such as HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.

 

Tags: Heart Disease, Health check, preventative medicine, heart health