Genetic determinism . . . and other stories
BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2592 (Published 28 November 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q2592
Predicting sudden cardiac death
Which patients recovering from a myocardial infarction are most likely to benefit from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator? An analysis of data from 140 000 post-myocardial infarction patients fails to give an answer (Eur Heart J doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehae326). Despite information on demographics, medical history, clinical characteristics, biomarkers, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, it was impossible to predict with any accuracy which patients would experience a sudden cardiac death.
Genetic determinism
Most human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance. Take human height as an example. Twin studies have established that it is largely genetically determined, but genome-wide association studies have identified more …
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