Current 60 - AHA Scientific Statement: Association Between Social, Genetic, and Genomic Factors and Cardiovascular Disease

Summary

A recent scientific statement from the American Heart Association synthesizes evidence linking social determinants of health, genetic variation, and epigenomic mechanisms to cardiovascular health (CVH) and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The statement highlights three interrelated pathways through which social and biological factors influence CVH and CVD (Figure):

• Direct effects of social determinants of health (e.g., racism, housing instability, neighborhood disadvantage, violence) on cardiovascular risk.
• Gene-environment interactions, in which social and environmental exposures modify the impact of inherited genetic variants on disease risk.
• Epigenetic mechanisms, particularly DNA methylation (DNAm), through which chronic social exposures influence gene expression without altering DNA sequence.

This framework emphasizes that, while genetic variants remain largely stable over time, epigenetic modifications are dynamic and responsive to lived experience, providing a biological link between social conditions and cardiovascular outcomes.

The statement cautions that much of the genetic and epigenomic evidence informing cardiovascular risk is derived from populations of predominantly European ancestry, limiting generalizability and risking misclassifications. Accordingly, there is a need for inclusive research approaches and careful interpretation of genetic and genomic findings to ensure that advances in cardiovascular science promote health equity.

Sources

Suglia SF, Hidalgo B, Baccarelli AA, et al. Improving Cardiovascular Health Through the Consideration of Social Factors in Genetics and Genomics Research: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2025;18(5):e000138. doi:10.1161/HCQ.0000000000000138.

This summary was created with assistance from generative artificial intelligence (Microsoft Copilot, 2026)