Genetics may affect cardiovascular risk.

Genetic differences among ethnic groups may influence their risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease. Researchers examined DNA segments of people from four distinct ethnic groups: blacks from Nigeria, whites from England, Polynesians from Samoa, and Yanomami Indians from northwestern Brazil. The study revealed that a particular gene pair linked to higher risk of heart attack and heart disease in whites was not found in the majority of the Samoans and the Yanomami. Instead, these two ethnic groups possessed a gene pair that is associated with a low risk of heart attack and heart disease in whites.

The findings suggest that the genes of the Samoans and Yanomami may provide them with some degree of protection against heart attack and cardiovascular disease, indicates Douglas E. Crews, assistant professor of anthropology, Ohio State University. "Samoans are among the fattest people in the world and have one...