You can overcome a genetic predisposition to heart disease

The 2007 “Nova” episode “The Ghost in Your Genes,” delivered big news: Your DNA contains chemical markers that allow genes to be turned on and off, meaning that, at least for some inherited characteristics, you’re not condemned to their preprogrammed influence. That was dubbed “epigenetics,” and it’s now widely acknowledged that a person’s lifestyle choices can turn off some harmful predispositions for health problems. (The opposite is true, too. You can cause genetic switches to get thrown that create health problems — obesity does that — and then pass those problems on to future generations.)

In one recent study on the power of smart lifestyle choices to dismiss genetically predisposed health problems, researchers looked at data from almost half a million men and women who didn’t have current heart problems, but who had a family or genetic history of heart disease.

The researchers found that regular exercise (we say that’s 10,000 steps a day, plus two days a week of strength training and a minimum of 150 minutes a week of aerobics) lowered participants’ risk for heart problems. A strong (instead of weak) grip lowered participants’ risk of coronary heart disease by 36 per cent and of atrial fibrillation by 46 per cent.

Furthermore, high fitness levels were linked to a 49 per cent lower risk for coronary heart disease and a 60 per cent lower risk for atrial fibrillation.

So if your relatives had heart woes, start an exercise regimen (get your doc’s OK) and upgrade your diet, too, so it’s plant-lovin’ and eliminates highly processed foods, red meats and added sugars.