How Does Education Protect Against Heart Disease?

Weight, blood pressure, and smoking mediated less than half of the effect of education on cardiovascular outcomes in a mendelian randomization study.

It has been well-documented that higher socioeconomic status is protective against cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the reasons behind this association are not fully understood. These researchers used data from the UK Biobank to determine how the relationship between educational attainment and CVD is mediated by body-mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, and lifetime exposure to smoking. The study cohort included 217,013 adults recruited from 2006 to 2010.

Investigators used three analytic approaches: multivariable regression of observational data and one- and two-sample mendelian randomizations (MRs) of individual- and summary-level genetic data, respectively. In the MR analyses, genetic data as identified from European genome-wi…

Reviewing Author

Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNovoNordisk; HealthPals; Novartis; Amgen

EquityHealthPals; Carta

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association–Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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