Improving Cardiovascular Health Through the Consideration of Social Factors in Genetics and Genomics Research
Published: March 24, 2025
- This scientific statement highlights how social determinants of health (SDOH), such as racism, housing, and neighborhood environments, interact with genetic susceptibility and epigenomic changes to influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
- Emerging evidence shows that SDOH can induce epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, which regulate gene expression and may contribute to the biological embodiment of adverse social conditions, exacerbating health disparities.
- The statement emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies with ancestrally diverse populations to advance equitable cardiovascular risk prediction and management, ensuring broader applicability of genetic and epigenomic findings.
Recommended Reading
- Next Generation, Modifiable Cardiometabolic Biomarkers: Mitochondrial Adaptation and Metabolic Resilience
- Social Determinants of Risk and Outcomes for Cardiovascular Disease
- Enhancing Literacy in Cardiovascular Genetics
- Genetic Testing for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases
- Genetics and Genomics for the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease
- Establishment of Specialized Clinical Cardiovascular Genetics Programs: Recognizing the Need and Meeting Standards
- Call to Action: Structural Racism as a Fundamental Driver of Health Disparities
- Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Mitigating Health Disparities Across the Lifespan in Congenital Heart Disease