Herpes Virus Tied to Angina Risk, Study Suggests
Herpes Virus Tied to Angina Risk, Study Suggests
But researchers note that only 1 percent of people has the virus strain hidden in their DNA
What might be going on? Flamand said one theory is that the virus destroys cells lining the arteries and contributes to clogs in the pipes of the circulatory systems.
Dr. Hugh Watkins, head of the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford in England, said, "This might be one more example to add to the long list of known genetic effects. But it will need replication, as lots of diseases were tested for association with this genetic variant, and it needs to be shown that this finding didn't just happen by chance."
Watkins, who was not involved with the study, disagrees with the need for newborn testing for the variant.
"It won't be helpful to test individuals for this gene or the other common heart disease susceptibility variants, as each has too small an effect to be predictive," he said, although he added, "maybe one day testing for all known variants together might be worthwhile."
Instead, he said, "the true value is in understanding why the effect is seen as that can pinpoint new mechanisms of disease and new targets for future drug treatments."
What's next? Flamand said researchers want to better understand how the virus affects the body, and figure out if it affects less common conditions.
The study was published in the June 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Herpes Virus Tied to Angina Risk, Study Suggests
But researchers note that only 1 percent of people has the virus strain hidden in their DNA
What might be going on? Flamand said one theory is that the virus destroys cells lining the arteries and contributes to clogs in the pipes of the circulatory systems.
Dr. Hugh Watkins, head of the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford in England, said, "This might be one more example to add to the long list of known genetic effects. But it will need replication, as lots of diseases were tested for association with this genetic variant, and it needs to be shown that this finding didn't just happen by chance."
Watkins, who was not involved with the study, disagrees with the need for newborn testing for the variant.
"It won't be helpful to test individuals for this gene or the other common heart disease susceptibility variants, as each has too small an effect to be predictive," he said, although he added, "maybe one day testing for all known variants together might be worthwhile."
Instead, he said, "the true value is in understanding why the effect is seen as that can pinpoint new mechanisms of disease and new targets for future drug treatments."
What's next? Flamand said researchers want to better understand how the virus affects the body, and figure out if it affects less common conditions.
The study was published in the June 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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