New study says brothers are at higher risk of heart disease than sisters

Nov 01: Genes are the functional units of heredity which determine our physical traits and are passed from generation to generations and our physical development is a product of genes interaction with each other.

In a recent study which claimed that brothers are more likely to get heart disease than sisters is purely based on our genes.

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In a study published in the November edition of the American Journal of Cardiology which said that regardless of age or lifestyle factors, if any sibling, brother or sister, suffers a heart attack, or chest pain from blocked arteries, the chances of any healthy brothers developing similar problems rises within 10 years by 20 per cent and sisters by 7 per cent.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine conducted the study that involved 800 siblings between ages 30 to 60, conducted from 1983 to 2006. The participants come from nearly 350 families around Baltimore and were generally healthy but all had at least one sibling with premature heart condition that had required hospitalisation . Half of the participants were women.

The results showed a relation between the age of the siblings and heart disease, as younger the age of the siblings who first develops heart disease then there is a greater risk that arteries of other brother and sister will also narrow, harden and clogged.

Diane Becker, a professor and senior investigator of the study said, "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."

"In the meantime, 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,” she added.

Dhananjay "Jay" Vaidya, an Indian and a part of the team added, "Knowing that your brother or sister had a heart attack, or that a sibling suffered chest pain and was rushed to a hospital stand out as possibly the most important predictor of whether or not another sibling develops blocked arteries."

Though the researchers have reached to a conclusion that it is the work of genes behind this link but they are still unclear about the functioning of the gene.

Now the next research is aimed at identifying genes linked to siblings risk so that they can develop a blood test which would alert families of the risk before hand when the symptoms are visible.

This is evident from the studies that the mysteries of so many things are within us and the researches are continuing their effort to unfurl the reasons behind our sufferings. Such research will pave the way for various other diseases that are linked genetically.