Nearly four out of 10 people Americans will suffer from vertigo at some point in their lives. The sensation that vertigo causes – that you or your environment are moving or spinning can be debilitating and disrupt everyday life – causing people to suffer from dangerous falls, hearing loss, excruciating migraines, and miss work and personal activities.     

In a breakthrough study, the precision genomics research team at Intermountain Healthcare and deCODE Genetics have discovered the genetic link to vertigo – specifically the six genes that cause it.    

These findings offer new hope to the more than 133 million Americans suffering from vertigo each year. The Intermountain Precision Genomics team, led by Dr. Lincoln Nadauld, says the discovery can already assist physicians in determining whether a patient who comes to the emergency room with cardiac-like symptoms is suffering from heart issues or vertigo and more broadly provides a new roadmap for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs and therapies for actively treating patients with vertigo.    

The discovery of the genetic link to vertigo study is part of the larger, groundbreaking HerediGene Population Study, that Intermountain and deCode are conducting. The study, which is the largest DNA collection effort ever undertaken of a single population in the U.S., is gathering genetic samples from 500,000 participating patients in Intermountain’s service area in the Mountain West.  

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