Genetics? It does play a role
but so does lifestyle.
My family history = lifestyle choices, not genetics
My mom, died from a stroke in her 70s because she didn't eat right, drank too much, and didn't exercise the last many yrs of her life. She smoked until her late 60s, survived lung cancer with early diagnosis and surgical removal of 2 of the 3 lobes from 1 of her lungs. No chemo but did have some radiation treatment.
My dad, died in his 70s, never woke up from heart surgery (AFIB etc), didn't eat right, drank too much, and didn't exercise the last 40 yrs of his life.
2 of my 4 grandparents died from heart attacks. one was 55ish yrs old, and the other was 65ish yrs old. Both smokers.
I made bad lifestyle choices from 1974 to 1995. I dipped snuff (copenhagen chewing tobacco) and abused alcohol (beer). Gave up both in 1995, 31 yrs ago, but the damage was done. Young, dumb, and bullet proof.
OH, and I thought I was eating healthy = low fat/high carb. 21 mths ago I discovered I'd been lied to.
NOT!
Agree,
My dad died of a heart attack close to 30 years ago, diabetes, quad bypass. HE was overweight but tried not too. Not obese like I see in today's world by any means. Big guy, just over 6 feet. Back then everyone (almost) smoked, high pressure (sort of) job with a well known newspaper, he did well. Thing is, back then, foods were wholesome, and we didnt sit around eating snacks all night. Stay at home mom always cooked homemade meals. He did quit smoking (guessing) in his early 40s. Once I (we started) learning in elementary school that smoking is bad, seeing nasty movies of what happens to your lungs.
Brother, who used to preach to my dad about a better lifestyle was far worse and continues some of that today as far as food choices. HE too quit smoking around his 40s, no longer drinks. 6 years older than me now. Quad bypass decades ago, diabetes, currently as EF around 25. (yes that is correct) besides the bypass, to this day other procedures to correct/stabilize heart rhythm ... to this day still eats whatever he wants, never made an attempt to change diet. Says he lives for today and most of it is baloney. Oh well. You can see where that is going and has gone. Part that frustrates me is he used to make fun of me for not "living" in the way I ate. I got one acknowledgment of that 5 years ago when my invasive angiogram showed low levels of plaque all over the place but no intervention was needed.
Me? the only male in my family that looked to eat correctly, almost my entire life after learning what my dad went through and my brother later in life. Also used to smoke but around the time my first child was born in the late 80s I swore they would never see me smoke, for years before that my wife never saw me smoke. But I used to smoke at work. I stopped that. As far as health and weight, some years a bit more heavy than others but always within 10lbs of my BMI on the "trim" side always and much more muscular than I am now. I swore I would not end up like them, learned to also eat lean meats, a LOT of fruit even in the 1980s before that time, like any young unmarried guy, it was partying, drinking, smoking, eating anything that tasted good. Yeah, I get it, starting around 1974 to the 1980s at some point I was realizing that proper foods were important. We used to party almost every night after work with our friends, that stopped when my daughter was born. Yeah, I get the carbs thing, however just recently learned how bad they are. I still have an unopened box of shredded wheat in my pantry come to think of it!
SO where am I going with this other than circles? *LOL*
My mom's side of the family. Italian, her parents came right off the boat to the USA before she and her parents large family was born. Lots of carbs, wholesome though, my grandmother made EVERYTHING from scratch. Tons of pasta and all kinds of Italian dishes. Very close knit on my moms side, as our family was more than my dads side. Off the top of my head, 6 brothers and sisters. Not one of them had a heart procedure or diabetes. Best I remember all lived long lives in general, no young deaths. GO figure.
There was one or two, I am told that did get prostate cancer. But I had my genes tested and I didnt carry the gene.
My grandfather would swear the 2 glasses of red sweet wine he had at dinner was a cure all. He also bragged about having one cavity in a tooth his whole life because at the end of a meal he would swish the wine around his mouth. (got me*LOL*) Maybe the mind is more powerful than we think.
Ok, so me? I have hi- lipo (a) known to be hereditary and heart disease in the family is undisputed as a significant risk factor. Even more so, immediate family, father siblings. Heck it must be true if the medical "complex" even recognizes it in getting certain procedures approved as well as most the Dr videos we watch. SO you, like me, we dont know if we could have beat it or not. But maybe so or at least delayed it. For me, I have delayed it for sure, but it's there and why I want to know exactly where I stand with a scan.
Genes - another example, my wife came here at the age of 22 many decades ago from the Philippines. The family and family circle would be considered wealthy and even by US standards many very wealthy. However they (as you and I would see it) eat anything they want, without regards to fatty foods or carbs (as in rice) because of me, my wife eats better but she will still for example eat the nicely grilled fat in a T-bone steak where I trim off every little piece and put it in a bowl on the side. She would even eat that if I let her!
Growing up, the entire family would fight over the legs and thighs of a chicken vs who would get stuck with the breast meat.
Rice, OMG, she eats way too much, however has cut back a lot, and is aware, she is pre-diabetic but she will still have a portion.
She has never smoked or drank.
Ok, so genes - well now into her 60s, as I posted, at my insistence since her Apple Watch indicated she had hypertension. She saw a cardiologist. Now takes a lower dose high BP pill a day and in the normal range. Her family history is one of high BP. Not one has had a heart issue in the entire large family circle. IN fact her mom well into her 90s now is 100% still here mentally. Uses her iPad all day long and FaceTime's with her kids here in the USA, also uses Viber sending and receiving photos. As I posted, the kicker is, I had my wife do a CAC scan just a couple weeks ago score was = 0
with the videos and books I read.