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Study reaffirms link between family history and heart disease

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

In addition to undergoing a lab test to assess the risk of heart disease, an individual may want to consider the impact of factors such as family history. Recently, a team of scientists from Denmark concluded that having a parent or sibling who died young from heart disease is associated with a greater likelihood of developing the condition, as reported by HealthDay.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among both men and women in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts have known that these illnesses can run in the family. In order to quantify the risks associated with cardiovascular problems, researchers analyzed data from almost 4 million Danes, looking closely at those who had a family history of death before the age of 60 years.

"The risk of early onset cardiovascular disease in persons whose relatives were less than 35 years of age when they died increased up to tenfold, while having two or more early deaths in the family increases risk of early-onset cardiovascular disease up to sixfold," said lead researcher Mattis Flyvholm Ranthe, quoted by the news source.

These findings suggest that family history is a significant consideration for heart disease risk evaluations among patients younger than 60, Ranthe said.

People who have relatives that died young may want to consider taking a lab test to measure for cholesterol levels and cardiac health markers.