How Your Lifestyle Talks to Your Genes: The Future of Heart Health Testing
- greetings31
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
When you get your heart health checked, you’re probably used to having blood tests that look at things like cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammation. These are important, but there’s a new area of science called epigenetics that’s starting to give us even more information about your risk for heart disease.
What is Epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the study of how your environment and daily habits can affect how your genes work—without changing your genes themselves. Think of your genes as the hardware of a computer, and epigenetics as the software that tells the hardware what to do. Things like what you eat, how much you move, your stress levels, and even the air you breathe can all influence these instructions.
One important part of epigenetics is called DNA methylation. This is a natural process your body uses to turn certain genes on or off at the right times. Changes in DNA methylation—caused by things like lifestyle, environment, or aging—can affect your health. By learning more about epigenetics, doctors and scientists are finding new ways to help prevent, detect, and treat diseases.
How Does This Relate to Heart Health?
Researchers have found that certain changes in your body’s “epigenetic markers” can serve as markers for risk as it pertains to heart disease, high blood pressure, and other cardiovascular problems. These changes can be measured in the lab with blood tests that look for specific patterns in your DNA or other molecules.
Why Does This Matter for Your Health?
DNA methylation helps your body turn genes on or off at the right times. This is important for normal growth, development, and responding to your environment. However, if methylation happens in the wrong place or at the wrong time, it can lead to health problems. For example, too much or too little methylation can affect proteins involved in heart health, metabolism, or even cancer risk.
How Are Labs Using Epigenetics for Heart Health?
Some advanced labs can now test for these epigenetic changes. This can help:
Predict your risk: Epigenetic tests may help spot if you’re at higher risk for heart disease, sometimes even before traditional risk factors show up.
Personalize your care: By understanding your unique epigenetic profile, your doctor can recommend lifestyle changes or treatments that are more tailored to you.
Monitor your progress: These tests can sometimes show how your body is responding to changes in your diet, exercise, or medications.
Epigenetic testing is still new and isn’t yet a standard part of heart health checkups. But as research continues, it may become more common and could help doctors catch heart problems earlier and offer more personalized care.
The Bottom Line
Your genes don’t decide everything about your health. The choices you make every day—what you eat, how active you are, and how you manage stress—can all influence your heart health, partly through epigenetics. New lab tests may use this information to help keep your heart healthier for longer.
At Achieve Health NV, we go beyond standard testing to give you a more complete picture of your heart health. By using the latest advances in epigenetics, we can help you understand your risk and guide you toward the best steps for prevention and wellness.
If you have questions about epigenetic testing for heart health, send us a text or schedule a free meet and greet if you’re not yet a patient at Achieve Health NV using the button below.
