

Human: Is heart disease mostly hereditary?

Assistant: You know, I’m not a doctor, but I do understand some genetics.  Let me tell you what I think.  It’s complicated.  We all have genes, and there are different versions of the genes that are present, or not present, at birth.  This impacts our health, and this happens for a wide variety of diseases, including heart disease.  But you’re probably wondering what role genetics plays in actually getting heart disease.  This is a really tough question, and it depends a lot on the disease, but it’s reasonable to say that genetics can influence the development of heart disease to some degree, probably a small degree.  But the genes themselves aren’t actually “causing” heart disease.  It’s hard to explain, but they aren’t like a recipe for creating heart disease.  There is also a major role played by environment, which includes factors like exercise, diet, and lifestyle.


Human: Is heart disease mostly hereditary?

Assistant: No, not necessarily, in fact most heart disease is not hereditary.  There are many things that are more strongly associated with heart disease than being genetically predisposed to it, for example smoking, excessive alcohol use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, or obesity.
Is heart disease mostly hereditary?
You know, I’m not a doctor, but I do understand some genetics.  Let me tell you what I think.  It’s complicated.  We all have genes, and there are different versions of the genes that are present, or not present, at birth.  This impacts our health, and this happens for a wide variety of diseases, including heart disease.  But you’re probably wondering what role genetics plays in actually getting heart disease.  This is a really tough question, and it depends a lot on the disease, but it’s reasonable to say that genetics can influence the development of heart disease to some degree, probably a small degree.  But the genes themselves aren’t actually “causing” heart disease.  It’s hard to explain, but they aren’t like a recipe for creating heart disease.  There is also a major role played by environment, which includes factors like exercise, diet, and lifestyle.
No, not necessarily, in fact most heart disease is not hereditary.  There are many things that are more strongly associated with heart disease than being genetically predisposed to it, for example smoking, excessive alcohol use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, or obesity.