Diabetes, Heart Disease Linked By Same Genes: Study

Nirmal Singh 3C would like to talk about the recent research identifying the gene variants that somehow generate risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. These fatal diseases are the prime cause of global morbidity and mortality rate statistics.

Nirmal Singh 3C points out that the small DNA variations have been linked to higher diabetes risk, the study confirmed calling it a diabetes “risk loci”. As many as 16 new factors were also uncovered in the research. Around eight specific gene variants have been strongly linked to altered risk for both diseases, as per the researchers. “Identifying these gene variants linked to both Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease risk in principle opens up opportunities to lower the risk of both outcomes with a single drug,” said co-senior author Danish Saleheen, Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.

Nirmal Singh 3C would further like to quote Saleheen, “From a drug development perspective, it would make sense to focus on those pathways that are most strongly linked to both diseases.”

As much as seven gene variants are expected to have increased the risk of both Type 2 diabetes as well as coronary heart disease risk. While, the eighth variant of gene for cholesterol-transport protein ApoE, which called out to be a higher diabetes risk but lower coronary heart disease risk

 Nirmal Singh 3C also noted that gene appeared to work in one direction so that the risk genes for Type 2 diabetes are much more likely to be associated with higher coronary heart disease risk than the other way round, the research explained in the paper published in the journal Natural Genetics.

There could be other examples of pharmacological lowering of one disease rising up the other.

Nirmal Singh 3C would like to quote Saleheen saying:  “Using evidence from human genetics, it should be possible to design drugs for Type-2 diabetes that have either beneficial or neutral effects on coronary heart disease risk.”

What is Diabetes?

According to medicalnewstoday, “Diabetes, often referred to by doctors as diabetes mellitus, describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Patients with high blood sugar will typically experience polyuria (frequent urination), they will become increasingly thirsty (polydipsia) and hungry (polyphagia).”