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My Sibling Has Heart Disease. Will I Get It, Too?

Insights from the Framingham Offspring Study

A parental history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a known CVD risk factor. To determine the CVD risk associated with a sibling history of CVD, researchers analyzed data from 2475 participants (mean age, 49) in the prospective Framingham Offspring Study who were free of CVD at baseline and had at least one sibling in the study.

The CVD event rate during 8 years of follow-up was significantly higher among participants with a sibling who had CVD than among participants whose sibling did not have CVD (80 vs. 54 events per 1000 persons; multivariable-adjusted odds ratio, 1.45). This difference was significant only among participants whose CVD events occurred before age 60. Among the subset of participants who had both parents enrolled in the study, sibling CVD was more strongly associated with incident events than was parental CVD.

Comment: These findings provide evidence that a sibling history of CVD is another important CVD risk factor. In absolute terms, for about every 40 people who had a sibling with CVD, there was 1 excess event over 8 years. Still to be determined are whether sibling CVD will add substantially to current Framingham risk estimates and whether treatment of patients with sibling CVD will improve outcomes.

— JoAnne M. Foody, MD

Published in Journal Watch Cardiology February 16, 2006

Citation(s):

Murabito JM et al. Sibling cardiovascular disease as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in middle-aged adults. JAMA 2005 Dec 28; 294:3117-23.

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