What's your risk of heart failure?

It turns out it may be out of your control.

There's a shift in the way doctors used to think about heart disease on the most recent episode of Kentucky Health.

Host Dr. Wayne Tuckson talks with a cardiologist who says medical professionals are now analyzing genes to determine who may be at risk.

Tell me about this family history.

I was not aware to the degree that family history was important.

Any particular mechanism that's going on here?

Well, back in the day when I started doing all this, we used to say you ran into a virus.

It's idiopathic.

Meaning we're not sure why you have heart failure other than diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease.

If your arteries were clean, you didn't have diabetes or hypertension, yet you had heart failure, meaning that you or the pumping function of your heart was less than 50%.

We said you probably had a virus at some point or it's idiopathic.

Well, as that turns out, we've done genes studies throughout the past 20, 30 years, and now we're able to identify certain amount of genes that are pathologic for heart failure.

And now we can identify them.

We can actually say that it's actually not a virus, it's not idiopathic.

It's some of it is genetic.

And actually a third of the patients who do not have hypertension, diabetes, you know, typical risk factors, you just show up with heart failure.

We find a gene that is the problem.

Does this gene cause other cardiac problems or is it specifically just leads to pump failure.

Specifically pump failure, sometimes associated problems, but usually just pump failure.

Now, just because you have the gene doesn't mean you're going to get heart failure.

That's the other thing.

You can have the gene, but the gene needs to turn on.

So folks who show up, who have decreased pumping function and I say, did your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, anybody in your family die young with no cause?

If they say yes, we just swab the inside of their mouth, send it off.

We get their gene profile back in three weeks.

Yes.

And we can say you either don't have the gene or you do have these genes that are associated with heart failure.

Now, the next trick is, is to say, well, how does that gene turn on or off?

And if they have heart failure, it's obviously been turned on.

Yeah.

And you alluded to some of the things that help turn genes on.

But a health clean, healthy, clean lifestyle can help keep it off.

Hmm.

So that's said that's.

But we didn't have it back in the day.

I used to say it was a virus.

It was idiopathic.

And now we do know that there's some genetic proclivity to heart failure.

So go over again.

For instance, the other risk factors.

And by the way, before we do, how common is the gene?

Is it the most common cause of heart failure?

Is it in the mix or do we really know where it is?

So people with heart failure have traditional risk factors, okay.

But it's still.

Half.

Half the people without heart failure don't have traditional risk factors.

Really?

Mm hmm.

And that may be the genetic component.

That's you.

Well, you can learn more on Dr. Tuckson show with Dr. Stephanie Moore online at Katie Borg.

And you can watch new episodes of Kentucky Health Sundays at 130 Eastern, 1230 Central right here on KCET.