Researchers find gene that may put Black Americans at higher risk for heart failure

BOSTON - Massachusetts researchers found a gene variant that could put some Black Americans at higher risk for heart failure and death, and the variant is not particularly rare. 

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Duke University pooled data from four NIH-funded studies and found that a genetic variant, found in 3% to 4% of Black Americans, increases their risk of heart failure, beginning in their 60s, and death, beginning in their 70s.  

Carriers of the gene died on average 2 to 2.5 years earlier than expected, and given that nearly half a million Black Americans who carry this gene are now over the age of 50, the researchers estimate that approximately a million years of life will be lost due to this gene variant. 

The researchers say that patients and their healthcare providers should be aware of this risk so they can be monitored closely and offered the newest therapies.

In:
• Health
• Brigham and Women's Hospital

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

Twitter Facebook