When heart disease runs in a family, it can feel like an invisible shadow, one you can’t quite outrun but can’t afford to ignore either. You might eat clean, jog a few miles, and still find yourself wondering: What if it’s already written in my DNA? The truth is that genes play a role in heart attacks, but they don’t tell the whole story. Family history is a risk factor, not a prophecy. A 2024 peer-reviewed study in The Journal of Clinical Medicine found that people with a parent or sibling who developed early coronary artery disease were much more likely to face similar problems later in life. Yet, the same research reminds us that environment and lifestyle can often override those genetic odds. In other words: knowing your family history doesn’t seal your fate, it hands you the map

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