Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, studied 19,000 women to determine the most effective method to assess cardiovascular risk, according to a study that reproduces the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

The study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, tested the efficacy of a system that detects cardiovascular disease based on 101 genetic markers, called single nucleotide polymorphisms that are associated with increased likelihood of heart disease.

All participants were healthy when the study began, but over 12 years of follow up there were 777 cardiovascular events such as myocardial or cerebral infarctions, deaths, and revascularization of the coronary arteries.

The experts found that the hundreds of genetic variants did not serve to identify those women most likely to suffer from any condition.

Instead, they determined that conventional methods such as measuring cholesterol and blood pressure can predict the risk in those who did not have any cardiovascular event.

The study found that having a close relative who had had a myocardial infarction before age 60 became one of the clearest signs of alert.

This corroborates the existence of a genetic component, but the authors of the study indicate that there is more genetically accurate to determine the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, such as assessment of risks.

Nina Paynter, who led the research, said: “Our findings confirm the importance of family history, which integrates genetic, shared environmental factors and behaviors, but the key is to assess the risk factors to prevent.”