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Williams, Frances M. K., Cherkas, Lynn F., Spector, Tim D. and MacGregor, Alex J. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2163-2325
(2004)
A common genetic factor underlies hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders.
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 4.
Abstract
Background: Certain conditions characterised by blood vessel occlusion or vascular spasm have been found to cluster together in epidemiological studies. However the biological causes for these associations remain controversial. This study used a classical twin design to examine whether these conditions are linked through shared environmental exposures or by a common underlying genetic propensity to vasospasm. Methods: We investigated the association between hypertension, migraine, Raynaud's phenomenon and coronary artery disease in twins from a national register. Phenotype status was determined using a questionnaire and the genetic and environmental association between phenotypes was estimated through variance components analysis. Results: Responses were obtained from 2,204 individuals comprising 525 monozygotic and 577 dizygotic pairs. There was a significant genetic contribution to all four traits with heritabilities ranging from 0.34 to 0.64. Multivariate model-fitting demonstrated that a single common genetic factor underlies the four conditions. Conclusions: We have confirmed an association between hypertension, migraine, Raynaud's phenomenon and coronary artery disease, and shown that a single genetic factor underlies them. The demonstration of a shared genetic factor explains the association between them and adds weight to the theory of an inherited predisposition to vasospasm.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Nutrition and Preventive Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Musculoskeletal Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre |
| Depositing User: | EPrints Services |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Nov 2010 11:11 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Apr 2023 23:53 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/13978 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/1471-2261-4-20 |
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