ISLAMABAD, - Medical professionals can use a number of approaches to determine a person’s heart disease risk — including blood tests, CT scans, and electrocardiograms.Polygenic risk scores involves analyzing a person’s genes to see if there are any variants, as variations can indicate their likelihood of developing a certain disease.
“Each genetic variant may only contribute a small fraction to the risk of heart disease,” he stated. “But, when combined, these genes can help explain a significant degree of risk for developing blockages in the coronary arteries of the heart.”Medical professionals can use polygenic risk score data in several key ways.
For instance, when lifestyle measures aren’t helping improve high blood pressure in patients with a high PRS [polygenic risk score,] data “may be useful to decide when to add a medication,” he added. He continued: “For this reason, it is necessary to interpret the results cautiously and in the context of other risk factors.”
Another element to consider is that — while scientists’ understanding of genetics is advanced — “interpreting PRS results can be complex in its current form,” said Tadwalkar.