DNA Is Not Destiny/'dɛstəni/ When It Comes To Heart/hɑrt/ Risk/rɪsk/
By Richard Harris
You can't choose your parents, so you can't help it if you're born with genes that increase your risk of heart disease/dɪ'ziz/. But a study finds that you can reduce that risk greatly with a healthful lifestyle/'laɪfstaɪl/.
Scientists /'saɪəntɪst/ have been wondering whether/'wɛðɚ/ that's the case. To find out, one international consortium[kənˈsɔrʃiəm] looked at data from four large studies that had isolated/'aɪsəlɪt/ genetic risk factors for heart disease.
They identified genetic markers/mɑrkɚ/ that seem to put people at nearly twice the risk for heart disease.
The scientists then dug /dʌɡ/ further /'fɝðɚ/ into their data to look at behavior that helps the heart, as well as at the influence of obesity /oˈbisɪti/. Specifically/spə'sɪfɪkli/, they looked at smoking habits, obesity, diet/'daɪət/ and exercise. People who were healthy — based on at least three of those criteria/kraɪˈtɪrɪə/ — were considered /kən'sɪdɚd/, for the purposes of the study, to be following a healthful lifestyle.
The scientists were pleased/plizd/ to discover that the benefits of those good habits were strong, even for people who carried genetic traits/tret/ that raised/rezd/ their risk. (Healthful habits actually benefited everyone, regardless of inherited /ɪn'hɛrɪt/ risk.)
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