Siblings a risk factor for heart disease
A person’s risk of heart disease goes up if their father had a heart attack, stroke or other arterial blockage prematurely – under the age of 55 or in a person’s mother under the age of 65. This has been known for some time.
Now a heart study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which followed 5,000 people, and 5,000 of their children and their children’s spouses also makes the risk link from siblings.
Sibling heart disease is even stronger than parental problems. People with a brother or sister with blocked arteries shared a higher level of cholesterol and blood pressure; but even allowing for that, the family connection still counted – up to a doubling of heart risk compared to a 45% rise from a parent with premature problems.
