deCODE Complete
Analyzes risk factors for more than fifty common diseases and several traits, including all of those for which deCODEhealth offers individual disease tests. deCODE Complete focuses on medical conditions that can either be better prevented through altered lifestyle or that have better treatment outcomes if detected early. It is the most comprehensive genetic scan available for evaluating risk of common diseases. It is not generally reimbursable.
Diseases and conditions covered by the deCODE Complete Scan:
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, ABO Blood Types, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Alcohol Flush Reaction, Alzheimer’s Disease, Asthma, Atrial Fibrillation, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Bitter Taste Perception, Bladder Cancer, Brain Aneurysm, Brain Cancer-Glioma, Breast Cancer, Celiac Disease, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Clopidogrel Response, Colorectal Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Essential Tremor, Exfoliation Glaucoma, Eye Color, Gallstones, Gout, Heart Attack, Hemochromatosis, Hypertension, Kidney Stones, Lactose Intolerance, Lung Cancer, Male Pattern Baldness, Multiple Sclerosis, Nicotine Dependence, Obesity, Ovarian Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Prostate Cancer, Psoriasis, Restless Legs Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Statin Induced Myopathy, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Testicular Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Ulcerative Colitis, Venous Thromboembolism, Warfarin Metabolism.
Hypertension
Hypertension is a highly heritable disease.
deCODEhealth analyzes your patients’ DNA and provides you with a personalized interpretation of their genetic risk of hypertension.
Knowing your patients’ genetic risk can help you take control of the environmental risk factors for hypertension.
Genetics and lifestyle contribute evenly to hypertension – knowing your patients’ genetic risk of hypertension can put you on a path to preventing high blood pressure
Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries
Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. It is measured in mmHg (millimeters of mercury) and recorded as two numbers:
- Systolic pressure is the higher number, representing the pressure in the arteries as the heart contracts and pumps blood into the system.
- Diastolic pressure is the lower number, representing the pressure in the arteries when the heart relaxes between beats.
These two numbers combined provide doctors with information about how forcefully the heart pumps blood around the body and to some extent, how much resistance there is in the arteries. High systolic or diastolic pressure can be an indication of a disease called hypertension or high blood pressure.
Normal blood pressure in adults is 120/80 mmHg or less
Normal blood pressure in adults is less than 120 mmHg systolic and less than 80 mmHg diastolic (written as 120/80 mmHg or 120 over 80). Although normal blood pressure for an individual can vary somewhat with height, weight, fitness level, age, and general health, the American Heart Association has, on the basis of extensive research, defined blood pressure categories according to how much risk they entail for developing other diseases associated with the wear and tear of prolonged elevated blood pressure.
The chart below shows the blood pressure categories defined by the American Heart Association, listed by order of increasing risk:
| Blood Pressure Category |
Systolic (higher number) |
Diastolic (lower number) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | < 120 mmHg | and | < 80 mmHg |
| Pre- hypertension |
120 – 139 mmHg | or | 80 – 89 mmHg |
| Hypertension Stage1 |
140 – 159 mmHg | or | 90 – 99 mmHg |
| Hypertension Stage2 |
> 160 mmHg | or | > 100 mmHg |
| Hypertensive crisis |
> 180 mmHg | or | > 110 mmHg |
Hypertension often has no warning signs or symptoms
Hypertension is defined as blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or above on three consecutive measurements at least six hours apart. Blood pressure this high is a risk factor for many diseases. Over time, the increased workload on the heart weakens it and contributes to atherosclerosis (the thickening of the arteries due to fat and cholesterol depositions), thereby increasing the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, which are among the leading causes of death in the United States. High blood pressure can also lead to other conditions, such as heart failure, kidney disease, and blindness. High blood pressure is especially dangerous because it often has no obvious warning signs or symptoms and can therefore remain undiagnosed and untreated long enough to cause damage.
High blood pressure is common, but too often goes undetected
An estimated 1 billion people worldwide have hypertension, and this number is expected to increase to 1.56 billion people by the year 2025. This translates to about 1 in 4 adults being afflicted with hypertension worldwide. Currently, about 1 in 3 Americans are thought to have hypertension, and a third of them probably do not know it.
In most cases the cause of hypertension is unknown
Hypertension is generally classified as primary or secondary hypertension. Secondary hypertension is defined as a side-effect of some other identified medical condition, such as kidney disease, Cushing’s syndrome, pregnancy, oral contraceptive use, chronic alcohol abuse, or the use of certain medications. However, only 5% of people with hypertension fall into this category. The remaining 95% have primary or essential hypertension that is not attributable to some other known medical condition. While the specific causes of primary hypertension are not known, genetic factors and certain lifestyle factors, such as body weight and salt intake are thought to contribute.
People with a family history of hypertension are at increased risk
Those at greatest risk for developing hypertension are people who are overweight, with a family history of high blood pressure, and those with higher than normal blood pressure (i.e. pre-hypertension). Hypertension is more common in males than in females and African Americans tend to develop high blood pressure earlier in life and more often than individuals of European descent. Blood pressure tends to increase with age in most people, but hypertension should not be considered a part of healthy aging. Although primary hypertension cannot be cured, it is easily detected and in most cases preventable and controllable with medication and lifestyle changes.
Genetics and high blood pressure
It is generally accepted that genetics and the environment contribute evenly to hypertension. However, estimates regarding the importance of genetic factors in hypertension (heritability estimates) vary considerably among populations, from as low as 15% to as high as 70%. This variation reflects both genetic differences among populations (for example African-American vs. Europeans) and differences in lifestyle that interact with genes to cause hypertension.
Currently, more than 30 genes are being investigated as potential candidates for affecting differential risk of hypertension. Due to the complexity of blood pressure regulation and the multiple coordinated systems affected in individuals with hypertension, it may take years for scientists to find every gene that is involved.
deCODEhealth calculates your patients’ genetic risk of hypertension
The deCODE Complete Scan identifies validated hypertension risk variants and uses them to provide a personalized interpretation of the associated genetic risk for hypertension. The number of variants included in the deCODE Complete Scan for each ethnic group are listed in the table below.
| Number of Variants Measured | |
|---|---|
| European ancestry | 5 |
At present, the necessary scientific information to interpret the genetic risk for individuals of other ethnicities is not available. This information will be added as soon as it becomes available and we are assured of its quality.
This content was last reviewed on February 20, 2012.