Presdisposition to common heart disease passed on from father to son

A common heart disease may be passed genetically from father to son, according to a study led by the University of Leicester. A paper published in medical journal The Lancet shows that the Y chromosome, a part of DNA present only in men, plays a role in the inheritance of coronary artery disease. The team at the University of Leicester analysed DNA from over 3,000 men from British Heart Foundation Family Heart Study and the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study. They found that 90 per cent of British Y chromosomes belong to one of two major groups -- named haplogroup I and haplogroup R1b1b2. The risk of coronary artery disease among men who carry a Y chromosome from haplogroup I is 50 percent higher than other men, and the risk is independent of traditional risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking.