Take Your Family History to Heart

Has your sister or brother had a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular problem? That family history may boost your risk for such conditions at least as much as having a parent with cardiovascular disease, according to recent research.

In one study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers followed women and men age 30 and older whose sibling had suffered a cardiovascular disease (CVD) event. CVD events included heart attack, stroke, angina, coronary heart disease, and CVD-related death. Eight years later, these adults were much likelier to have suffered a CVD event than were study participants without CVD-affected siblings.

An earlier study explored the risks linked to having a parent with premature CVD. Participants included women and men with an average age of 44 years who were free of CVD at the start of the study. Those whose father had a CVD event before age 55 or whose mother had one before age 65 faced a 70% greater risk for CVD than those whose parents were unaffected.

Of course, you can’t change your family history. But telling your doctor about it will help you decide whether or not to treat a condition such as borderline high blood pressure or cholesterol.

Your next step? Adopt the lifestyle changes urged by a panel of experts including scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Heart Association. Here are some of the strategies they advise for reducing CVD risk:

• Avoid smoking and inhaling secondhand smoke.
• Get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, on most—but preferably all—days of the week.
• Eat a heart-healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, fish, poultry, lean meats, and beans. And limit saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fat.
• Maintain a healthy weight.