 Although heart disease is the leading killer of women as well as of men, two heart disease patients out of every three are male, and heart disease strikes men 10 to 15 years earlier than it does women. For some men, the reason for that might be in part because of their fathers—and their father’s father—according to a new study, published online Wednesday in The Lancet. Men in this haplogroup, who all showed a common variant on the Y chromosome, were 50 percent more likely to have coronary artery disease than those without it—even when age, body mass, cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and other risk factors were taken into account. The findings do not suggest that heart disease risk for men is entirely—or even mostly—lodged on the Y chromosome.
– Men represent about two-thirds of heart disease sufferers, and a new study offers a possible hint as to why—men with a certain genetic ancestry were 50% more likely to be afflicted. The study analyzed 3,233 white UK men and examined their male Y chromosomes, which are passed down from dad. Up to 20% of the men belonged to "haplogroup I," one of 13 known ancient ancestry branches, and that group's risk was drastically higher, Scientific American reports. The findings, with their emphasis on heredity, could help explain why some men who follow all the right advice on healthy living come down with heart disease, while others who ignore all that advice skate by, notes the New York Times. Researchers caution that much more research needs to be done, but one unaffiliated with the study called the findings "exciting" because they offer "a whole different perspective on some risk factors." The results could lead to screening tests to identify those most vulnerable.