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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – DALLAS, April 10, 2012 — If your brother or sisterhad a stroke, you may be at least 60 percent more likely to have one too, according to research reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.
The findings come from the first large study to examine the combined
influence of age, gender and sibling history on stroke risk. The study
focused on ischemic strokes, which are caused by blood vessel blockage
that cuts off blood flow to part of the brain. Ischemic strokes are by
far the most common type, striking almost 700,000 Americans annually.
The study also found that if your sibling was 55 or younger at the time
of the stroke, your risk of having one at 55 or younger is almost
doubled, said Erik Ingelsson, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study
and professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at the Karolinska
Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
“Health professionals should pay as much attention to a family history
of stroke in siblings as in parents, and make patients aware that a
genetic predisposition exists,” Ingelsson said. “The gender of either
sibling did not influence the stroke risk.”
Swedish researchers studied national health records from 1987 to 2007.
For each stroke diagnosed, they tracked whether a sibling had a stroke
during the remainder of the study period.
The investigators found that ischemic strokes were:
— 94 percent more likely to occur at age 55 or younger in siblings of
affected patients whose stroke occurred at 55 or younger.
— 64 percent more likely in full siblings of affected patients;
— 61 percent more likely in any siblings of affected patients;
— 41 percent more likely in half-siblings of affected patients;
The increased familial risk may not solely be due to genetics,
Ingelsson said. Similar lifestyle habits within families also could be
at work — and those can be changed.
“If your sibling has had a stroke, it should motivate you to take more
preventive actions and to pay more attention to lifestyle habits such
as diet, exercise and blood pressure control,” Ingelsson said.
Because there was no information on other medical risk factors for
ischemic stroke, such as high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol
levels, the researchers could not determine whether the familial
influence heightened stroke risk directly or through genetic and
environmental influences.
Researchers analyzed hospital discharge and cause of death records in
30,735 people who had a sibling with a stroke and 152,391 adults of a
similar age with no history of a sibling having a stroke. At the time
of their sibling’s stroke, people averaged 64 years old.
The study is limited by the lack of information on subtypes of ischemic
stroke that may carry different inherited risks, authors said.
Co-authors are Katherine Kasiman, M.Sc.; Cecilia Lundholm, M.Sc.; Sven
Sandin, M.Sc.; Ninoa Malki, M.Sc.; and Pär Sparen, Ph.D. Author
disclosures are on the manuscript.
The study was supported by a grant from the Swedish Research Council.
For more information on stroke visit the StrokeAssociation.org. Fill
out the My Family Health Tree to see which conditions in your family
may affect you.
Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart
Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors
and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position.
The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their
accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily
from individuals; foundations and corporations (including
pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make
donations and fund specific association programs and events. The
association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from
influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and
device corporations are available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.
NR12 — 1055 (CircGenetics/Ingelsson)
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