Daily HealthBeat Tip

How�s the family?

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

When Mom or Dad told you to keep an eye on your brother or sister, they probably didn't have this in mind. But researchers say you can watch your sibs to get an idea of whether you might have cardiovascular disease such as a heart attack or stroke.

The researchers looked at the long-running Framingham Heart Study, supported by the National Institutes of Health. They found a 45 percent higher risk of heart attack among people with a brother or sister who already had a heart attack, compared with people with siblings free of the disease. The report was in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Joanne Murabito of the Framingham Heart Study:

"We were surprised that sibling cardiovascular disease was associated with the same or greater risk for future cardiovascular disease as parental cardiovascular disease." (nine seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: February 2, 2006

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