DALLAS, July 17 -- You may think you're nothing like your brother or sister, but if any of your siblings have heart disease, think again.
In a study in this month's Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, brothers and sisters of people who have heart disease before age 60 had a greater risk of developing high blood pressure, a major risk for heart disease. Yet they were much less likely than the general public to be aware of their risk or seek treatment for high blood pressure, says Lisa Yanek, M.P.H., lead author of the study at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore. Yanek says that siblings of people with heart disease, especially brothers, have a higher risk of developing heart disease than even the children of adults with heart disease. She suggests that, "Anyone who has heart disease before age 55 should encourage their brothers and sisters to be screened for heart disease and heart disease risk factors."
In the study, 44 percent of the siblings had high blood pressure. Ironically, of those whose high blood pressure put them at risk for heart disease and stroke, only 60 percent were aware of their condition and even fewer of them were being treated. High blood pressure is treatable with drugs and in some cases diet and exercise.
In comparison with the general population, individuals in the study also had a high prevalence of other heart disease risk factors -- smoking, obesity and high cholesterol.
Yanek notes that "siblings in the study did not perceive themselves to be at risk for heart disease? and often seemed interested in screening primarily to reassure themselves that they were not at risk."
Scientists screened 859 apparently healthy siblings of people with heart disease before age 60 and reported that "siblings of persons with premature heart disease are an easily identifiable high-risk group who remain in need of improved screening and treatment to lower rates of high blood pressure." Co-authors are Taryn Moy; Roger Blumenthal, Judith Raqueno, Raphael Yook; Martha Hill; Lewis Becker; and Diane Becker.
Media advisory: Lisa Yanek can be contacted by phone at (410) 955-7671 or by fax at (410) 955-0321. (Please do not publish numbers.)