Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When we talk about heart disease and risk factors, everybody seems to forget that we're really talking about pre-mature heart disease. If your family members all waited until their 80s to die of a heart attack, then they didn't really die of heart disease, they died of old age. You gotta die of something. Nobody's getting out of this alive.
The most important risk factor in early heart disease is genetics. People in families with a strong history of heart attacks in members from ages 35-50 or so may be in big trouble, and attention to lifestyle (exercise, & diet) doesn't help much. Strong suspicion and early stress testing/cardiac cath is what it takes to prolong their lives. Same is true for diabetics.
Attention to chol levels is also an almost useless endeavor-- unless you jog all the way to and from the drug store when you fill your statin 'script.
My "guess" is that inheriting looks is uncorrelated with inheriting other characteristics.
I would not suggest any medical test - I did 23andme and they give quite a comprehensive look at various characteristics and risk factors, especially when you feed their results into other genetics websites. I think it was pretty cheap for what I got and they usually have some holiday discounts.
When we talk about heart disease and risk factors, everybody seems to forget that we're really talking about pre-mature heart disease. If your family members all waited until their 80s to die of a heart attack, then they didn't really die of heart disease, they died of old age. You gotta die of something. Nobody's getting out of this alive.
The most important risk factor in early heart disease is genetics. People in families with a strong history of heart attacks in members from ages 35-50 or so may be in big trouble, and attention to lifestyle (exercise, & diet) doesn't help much. Strong suspicion and early stress testing/cardiac cath is what it takes to prolong their lives. Same is true for diabetics.
Attention to chol levels is also an almost useless endeavor-- unless you jog all the way to and from the drug store when you fill your statin 'script.
Lots of truth here, especially the "Nobody gets out of here alive" part. My Mom's mother and father both died before age 70, in the 1960's, I believe, of heart-related issues. My Mom was diagnosed with arrhythmia in her late 70's or early 80's, but lived until age 93. I attribute the difference in longevity between her and her parents to be from the much better medical care we have today.
I myself empathize with prior posters who are struggling with arthritis, I need to get under a Dr.'s care instead of self-medicating with ibuprofen. The actuarial charts say that half the folks my age (and sex/race/country) will live to be age 83, and half will live longer. It sure would be nice to know what half I'm in, so as to make better plans for retirement finances. Or maybe not.
When comparing physical characteristics, it would appear that I inherited genetic traits chiefly from my father's side of the family.
My facial structure, hair, ears, nose' teeth, body shape, feet, etc are far more similar to my dad and dad's side of the family and *nothing* whatsoever like my mother's.
My mother's side of the family suffers badly from heart related issues. My grandmother and nearly every blood relative in her line, including her three daughters and son died (in their 80s) from heart related issues. Its too soon to tell about grandchildren since we are relatively young.
Since I so strongly take after my father I wonder what the odds are that I would or would not have inherited my mother's side of the family heart issues?
Before anyone says this I KNOW there are medical tests, I am just looking for opinions.
Heck, if they made to their 80s, what are you worried about? 80s is a long life. My mother and both grandmothers all died of heart disease at 35, 58, and 60. I'm a 64-year-old woman, so I figure it's all gravy from here on out for me. All I can do is keep my weight and blood pressure normal (don't need BP meds) and eat healthfully. The rest is a DNA crap shoot.
My Dad smoked 3 packs of Kool's every day for almost 50 years, he stopped smoking at age 66. Even when he passed away at 96 he never suffered any respiratory problems, no use even for an inhaler. My mother breathed in all that 2nd smoke for close to 50 years and she died at 86 with clear lungs.
I wrongly figured that I had the same set of genes my Father had, so why quit smoking!! I have smoked close to 50 years and I have COPD! On my mother side, my grandfather smoked right up until his death at 89, and no respiratory problems. So go figure!
My astrological chart showed a Gemini Ascendant: look for weak lungs! I've also had asthma attacks since a child, but they came and went, came and went.
My Dad smoked 3 packs of Kool's every day for almost 50 years, he stopped smoking at age 66. Even when he passed away at 96 he never suffered any respiratory problems, no use even for an inhaler. My mother breathed in all that 2nd smoke for close to 50 years and she died at 86 with clear lungs.
I wrongly figured that I had the same set of genes my Father had, so why quit smoking!! I have smoked close to 50 years and I have COPD! On my mother side, my grandfather smoked right up until his death at 89, and no respiratory problems. So go figure!
My astrological chart showed a Gemini Ascendant: look for weak lungs! I've also had asthma attacks since a child, but they came and went, came and went.
Sorry to hear of your COPD...life is indeed a crapshoot and it's not possible to count on anything except what we do ourselves, for ourselves. My mother's mother lived well into her 80's and she also had two maternal aunts that lived well into their 90's yet she passed in her early 70's - I've always looked to those long-living sisters but who knows if what they had actually shows up in my genes? ...which is why I went the 23andme route - hopefully as more and more is known that can guide my choices.
"...what the odds are that I would or would not have inherited my mother's side of the family heart issues?"
including both outcomes: 75%
I've quoted this post only because it's a convenient lead-in to respond to the next several posts about family experiences with longevity.
The odds of the OP's chances would be 75% only if heart disease were inherited thru a simple Mendelian dominant gene. But heart disease and lung problems are inherited thru a complex mixture of many genes, most of which we are completely ignorant....add in the phenomenon of "expressivity" (the same gene shows itself differently in different people) and it really is a crap-shoot when trying to predict a given person's health future based on that of their relatives.
If you had nine lives, maybe you'd come out ahead in the end betting based on history, but with only one life, which of the nine did you get?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
