Genetic difference in blood clotting may underlie racial health disparity
Finding could help explain difference between blacks and whites in heart attack survival
A difference in blood clotting could help explain why blacks don’t survive heart attacks as often as whites do.
Racial disparities in heart disease and other illnesses have many contributing factors, including social and cultural ones, but genetics may a play role too. Blood clots may trigger heart attacks and strokes; people respond differently to blood-thinners, such as aspirin, which people take to prevent heart attacks and stroke and to dissolve clots after they occur.