Genes, Hypertension, and Cardiac Hypertrophy

What mark dost see that I can trust?--Euripides, ElectraPhysicians and their patients have long known that the development of the most common chronic diseases is influenced by genetic factors. Hypertension, asthma, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and stroke (to name a few) all run in families, but more detailed information has become available only recently. The advent of molecular genetic techniques has allowed us to characterize precisely the genetic defects in a growing number of monogenetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's chorea. These advances have been remarkable. Achieving a similar understanding of the genetic underpinnings of disorders . . .