Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jan 4;20(2):912.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20020912.

Contribution of Genetic Polymorphisms in Human Health

Affiliations
Review

Contribution of Genetic Polymorphisms in Human Health

Pieranna Chiarella et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Human health is influenced by various factors; these include genetic inheritance, behavioral lifestyle, socioeconomic and environmental conditions, and public access to care and therapies in case of illness, with the support of the national health system. All these factors represent the starting point for the prevention and promotion of a healthy lifestyle. However, it is not yet clear to what extent these factors may actually affect the health of an entire population. The exposures to environmental and occupational factors are several, most of which might be poorly known, contributing to influencing individual health. Personal habits, including diet, smoking, alcohol, and drug consumption, together with unhealthy behaviors, may inevitably lead people to the development of chronic diseases, contributing to increasing aging and decreasing life expectancy. In this article, we highlight the role of susceptibility biomarkers, i.e., the genetic polymorphisms of individuals of different ethnicities, with particular attention to the risk factors in the response to specific exposures of Europeans. Moreover, we discuss the role of precision medicine which is representing a new way of treating and preventing diseases, taking into account the genetic variability of the individual with each own clinical history and lifestyle.

Keywords: disease; environment; genetic variability; health; lifestyle; precision medicine; risk factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of death for cardiovascular, ischemic, stroke, diseases.

References

    1. Dyba T., Randi G., Bray F., Martos C., Giusti F., Nicholson N., Gavin A., Flego M., Neamtiu L., Dimitrova N., et al. The European cancer burden in 2020. Incidence and mortality estimates for 40 countries and 25 major cancers. Eur. J. Cancer. 2021;157:308–347. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.07.039. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kotwal A.A., Schonberg M.A. Cancer screening in the elderly: A review of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer screening. Cancer J. 2017;23:246–253. doi: 10.1097/PPO.0000000000000274. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barford A., Dorling D., Davey Smith G., Shaw M. Life expectancy: Women now on top everywhere. BMJ. 2006;332:808. doi: 10.1136/bmj.332.7545.808. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chiarella P., Capone P., Sisto R. Polymorphic genes and gender difference: Analysis of a European sample. Ital. J. Occup. Environ. Hyg. 2021;12:156–166. doi: 10.36125/ijoehy.v12i4.410. - DOI
    1. OECD/European Union . Health at a Glance: Europe 2020: State of Health in the EU Cycle. OECD Publishing; Paris, France: 2020. pp. 1–237. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources