Siblings at Risk If One Has Heart Attack

Regardless of age or lifestyle, if an American has a heart attack, his or her brother’s risk of having one within 10 years increases by 20 percent.

Diane Becker, a senior study investigator at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said that for sisters, the risk rose by 7 percent.

The risk was greater than previously thought and makes clear the existence of a substantial, if uneven hereditary link in heart disease among brothers and sisters, Becker said in a statement. Brothers and sisters in families with a history of heart disease really need to monitor their health more closely and in consultation with their physician, and consider if drug therapy and better diet, exercise and lifestyle habits are needed.

The researchers used data from 1983 to 2006 as part of a larger study, which involves risk-factor monitoring of 800 siblings between the ages of 30 and 60 from nearly 350 families in the Baltimore area. Study participants were generally healthy, but all had at least one sibling with premature coronary heart disease.

The findings were published in the American Journal of Cardiology.