Oh, Brother! How Siblings with history of Heart Attack Increases YOUR RISK.

Having Older Siblings Who Died of a Heart Attack Raises Your  Heart Attack Risk.

Genetic similarity between you and your sibling (which could include genetic predisposition to heart disease)If you are a middle child or the baby of the family, you probably know that there are all kinds of studies that aim to correlate your birth order with your physical and emotional health. Well here's another one, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association by researchers from Sweden. Their conclusion: if you had older siblings who died of a heart attack, you are much more likely to suffer a heart attack as well. Possible reasons for this include:

• Growing up in the same household; shared environmental factors may also contribute to shared risk
• Stress  

Stress of Sibling's Death is Key

The researchers suggest it is the stress itself that comes with losing a close family member that may cause you to have a heart attack.

In the short term, the immediate psychological shock of the sibling's death may manifest physically. This is known as broken heart syndrome, a temporary weakening of the heart caused by stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline released right after the stress event (the death of the sibling). However, the data from this study suggest that the majority of the negative effect on the surviving sibling's mortality is in the longer term, around 2-3 years after the sibling's death (see figure below), meaning something else besides broken heart syndrome is responsible.

Relative Risk of Heart Attack Death (vertical)
VS.
 Time after Sibling's Death (horizontal)

   

The study's authors suggest that after a sibling dies, emotional stress may result in increased inflammation, which we know is linked to atherosclerosis and heart attacks. Also, people may be less likely to take care of their health when they are upset and depressed, so they forget to take medications and fall back on poor lifestyle choices.

How Can Preventive Cardiology Help?

If you have lost an older brother or sister to a heart attack, you need to protect yourself so the chances of you having a heart attack are reduced. At our office, we help you by providing the most advanced diagnostic techniques available, such as 64-slice Cardiac CT, carotid IMT imaging, as well as the latest ultra-sophisticated lab tests, including genetic testing and lipoprotein particle analysis so you can be aware of your cardiovascular disease risks