Sibling's Heart Problems Predict Yours Best - Study

Sibling's Heart Problems Predict Yours Best -- Study
October 04, 2004

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Does your brother or sister have heart disease?
That may be a better predictor of whether you are at risk that your
parents' health history, researchers said on Monday.

A study of nearly 8,500 healthy adults in Ohio found that people were
2.5 times to three times more likely to have coronary atherosclerosis
-- heart and artery disease -- if a brother or sister had already been
diagnosed with heart disease.

There was a correlation with parents, too, but much less so, according
to the report in this week's issue of the journal Circulation.

Doctors should take a careful family history from patients that
includes brothers and sisters, the researchers at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, Ohio State University and the University of
California Los Angeles said.

Patients are usually asked if their mother or father had a range of
diseases or conditions, but often the health history of brothers and
sisters is overlooked.

"Family history has for years been recognized as a risk factor in
predicting a person's chance for developing coronary heart disease
early on in life -- separate from better-known risk factors, such as
HDL ('bad') and LDL ('good') cholesterol levels, blood pressure,
smoking and age," said cardiologist Dr. Roger Blumenthal, who led the
study.

"But we never knew if there was a difference between sibling and
parental histories of early heart disease in terms of a given
individual's risk of developing early atherosclerosis."

The Johns Hopkins team used electron-beam tomography, a form of
computed tomography or CAT scans to look for buildups of calcium in
the coronary artery, a main artery leading to the heart. This is an
early signal of heart disease.

People whose brother or sister had suffered a heart attack or who
needed bypass surgery or angioplasty were nearly four times more
likely to have advanced levels of atherosclerosis than those with no
family history of heart disease.

People whose parents had heart disease, but not siblings, were about
twice as likely to have advanced levels of coronary calcium.

Even people who seem healthy may need to work hard to lower their risk
of heart disease if their brothers or sisters have it, Blumenthal
said. That may include early use of drugs such as aspirin or a statin
as well as good diet and exercise.

"MrPepper11" <MrPepper11@go.com> wrote in message
news:57cfd534.0410041404.4c1ca4fe@posting.google.com...
> Sibling's Heart Problems Predict Yours Best -- Study
> October 04, 2004
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Does your brother or sister have heart disease?
> That may be a better predictor of whether you are at risk that your
> parents' health history, researchers said on Monday.
>
> A study of nearly 8,500 healthy adults in Ohio found that people were
> 2.5 times to three times more likely to have coronary atherosclerosis
> -- heart and artery disease -- if a brother or sister had already been
> diagnosed with heart disease.
>
> There was a correlation with parents, too, but much less so, according
> to the report in this week's issue of the journal Circulation.
>
> Doctors should take a careful family history from patients that
> includes brothers and sisters, the researchers at Johns Hopkins
> University in Baltimore, Ohio State University and the University of
> California Los Angeles said.
>
> Patients are usually asked if their mother or father had a range of
> diseases or conditions, but often the health history of brothers and
> sisters is overlooked.
>
> "Family history has for years been recognized as a risk factor in
> predicting a person's chance for developing coronary heart disease
> early on in life -- separate from better-known risk factors, such as
> HDL ('bad') and LDL ('good') cholesterol levels, blood pressure,
> smoking and age," said cardiologist Dr. Roger Blumenthal, who led the
> study.
>
> "But we never knew if there was a difference between sibling and
> parental histories of early heart disease in terms of a given
> individual's risk of developing early atherosclerosis."
>
> The Johns Hopkins team used electron-beam tomography, a form of
> computed tomography or CAT scans to look for buildups of calcium in
> the coronary artery, a main artery leading to the heart. This is an
> early signal of heart disease.
>
> People whose brother or sister had suffered a heart attack or who
> needed bypass surgery or angioplasty were nearly four times more
> likely to have advanced levels of atherosclerosis than those with no
> family history of heart disease.
>
> People whose parents had heart disease, but not siblings, were about
> twice as likely to have advanced levels of coronary calcium.
>
> Even people who seem healthy may need to work hard to lower their risk
> of heart disease if their brothers or sisters have it, Blumenthal
> said. That may include early use of drugs such as aspirin or a statin
> as well as good diet and exercise.

Thanks.

Bill

As with any autosomal recessive diseases both parents may not have the
disease but the offspring may, if the defective gene is inherited from each
parent.
There is nothing surprising about that. If the condition were to be
autosomal dominant then only one gene would be enough to trigger disease
meaning either your father or mother would have the disease.
The term "family history" refers to anyone within the family and extended
family including uncles and aunts.

"MrPepper11" <MrPepper11@go.com> wrote in message
news:57cfd534.0410041404.4c1ca4fe@posting.google.com...
> Sibling's Heart Problems Predict Yours Best -- Study
> October 04, 2004
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Does your brother or sister have heart disease?
> That may be a better predictor of whether you are at risk that your
> parents' health history, researchers said on Monday.
>
> A study of nearly 8,500 healthy adults in Ohio found that people were
> 2.5 times to three times more likely to have coronary atherosclerosis
> -- heart and artery disease -- if a brother or sister had already been
> diagnosed with heart disease.
>
> There was a correlation with parents, too, but much less so, according
> to the report in this week's issue of the journal Circulation.
>
> Doctors should take a careful family history from patients that
> includes brothers and sisters, the researchers at Johns Hopkins
> University in Baltimore, Ohio State University and the University of
> California Los Angeles said.
>
> Patients are usually asked if their mother or father had a range of
> diseases or conditions, but often the health history of brothers and
> sisters is overlooked.
>
> "Family history has for years been recognized as a risk factor in
> predicting a person's chance for developing coronary heart disease
> early on in life -- separate from better-known risk factors, such as
> HDL ('bad') and LDL ('good') cholesterol levels, blood pressure,
> smoking and age," said cardiologist Dr. Roger Blumenthal, who led the
> study.
>
> "But we never knew if there was a difference between sibling and
> parental histories of early heart disease in terms of a given
> individual's risk of developing early atherosclerosis."
>
> The Johns Hopkins team used electron-beam tomography, a form of
> computed tomography or CAT scans to look for buildups of calcium in
> the coronary artery, a main artery leading to the heart. This is an
> early signal of heart disease.
>
> People whose brother or sister had suffered a heart attack or who
> needed bypass surgery or angioplasty were nearly four times more
> likely to have advanced levels of atherosclerosis than those with no
> family history of heart disease.
>
> People whose parents had heart disease, but not siblings, were about
> twice as likely to have advanced levels of coronary calcium.
>
> Even people who seem healthy may need to work hard to lower their risk
> of heart disease if their brothers or sisters have it, Blumenthal
> said. That may include early use of drugs such as aspirin or a statin
> as well as good diet and exercise.