Heart attack gene may help you have a baby

Heart disease may never be eradicated because it assists reproduction, a study by scientists at the University of Melbourne has suggested.

Natural selection tends to weed out “bad” genes that reduce survival. Yet genetic variants that increase the risk of heart disease appear to have been present in human DNA at least as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

Now scientists say the defects that fur up arteries and lead to heart attacks may also improve fertility.

Researcher Dr Michael Inouye said: “We found CAD genes are also important for reproduction and that these genes are involved in important functions in male and female fertility.”