Shane By Stephen Beech via SWNS Wealthy people are at greater risk of cancer than the less well-off, suggests new research. But people from a poorer background are more genetically susceptible to diabetes and arthritis, say scientists. Finnish researchers looked at the influence of socio-economic status (SES) on the genetic risk for diseases.
They found that people with lower SES - educational achievement and occupation - have a greater genetic susceptibility to develop diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lung cancer, depression, and alcoholism, as well as Type 2 diabetes. Their findings also suggested that those with a higher SES are more at risk of developing breast, prostate, and other forms of cancer. Study leader Dr.
Fiona Hagenbeek, says that the initial results mean that it is likely that polygenic risk scores - which measure a person's risk of a particular disease based on genetic information - could be added to screening protocols for several diseases. Dr. Hagenbeek said: “Understanding that the impact of polygenic scores on disease risk is context-dependent may lead to further stratified screening protocols.
“For example, in the future, screening protocols for breast cancer may be adapted so that females with a high genetic risk and who are highly educated receive earlier or more frequent screening than females with lower genetic risk or less education.” Arttu Päivinen The research team used genomics, SES, and health data from around 280,000 Finnish peopl.
