Gene differences may cause high blood sugar after heart attack

Stress prompts the body’s “fight or flight” response to kick in. This releases chemicals that increase blood sugar. This condition is common after a sudden illness like a heart attack. Patients with this problem are more likely to die than patients without this problem. Slight differences (variants) in a gene involved in the “fight or flight” response are linked to this condition. Vanderbilt researchers have found that people can have 5 different patterns of these variants. One particular pattern may make a patient more likely to have this problem. In this project, the researchers will use BioVU to find patients with this pattern of gene variants. They will look at how often these patients get high blood sugar after a heart attack. Then they will compare these patients with patients who have other patterns of variants. This research could help us determine who is at the most risk of this dangerous stress effect.