Essential hypertension (EH), acomplexpolygenicdisease, is considered to the resultof the geneticinteractionofmultiplegenealterations in concert withenvironmentalfactors.
"What we are saying is that it's likely an interaction of the environment and genetic susceptibility."
VOA: standard.2010.08.09
Most diseases are not caused by one gene alone - there is no 'obesity gene' or 'heart disease gene' - but by the interaction of lots of genetic and environmental factors.
Long-term follow-up suggests a significant interaction between sugary beverage consumption and both the composite genetic predisposition and BMI itself.