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Loss of adult sibling raised risk for MI death
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Risk for death from MI appears to be higher among men and women who lost an adult sibling, especially if the sibling also died from MI, new research suggests.
Researchers conducted an 18-year follow-up study of Swedish men and women aged 40 to 69 years from 1981 to 2002 to evaluate the connection between death of a sibling and subsequent death of a surviving sibling.
Women and men were 25% and 15%, respectively, more likely to die of MI after the death of a sibling when compared with those who did not have a loss, according to the published findings.
Researchers found that during the first 10 years, MI accounted for 13% of deaths in men and 5.5% in women.
Researchers reported that the mortality rate in men in the 3 years after a sibling’s death was 30% higher compared with non-bereaved men. They also found in the 2 to 3 years after a sibling’s death, the mortality rate in women was almost twice that of non-bereaved women.
Additionally, data suggested that, in women, risk for death from MI rose from 4 to 6.5 years after the sibling died and risk increased in men from 2 to 6.5 years after losing a sibling. This risk, however, did not appear to increase during the first few months after bereavement.
“Death of a family member is so stressful that the resulting coping responses could lead to [MI],” study researcher Mikael Rostila, PhD, associate professor at Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, said in a press release. “But our results suggest that this association between the loss of a sibling and having a heart attack is more likely to occur some years after bereavement.”
If a sibling died from an external cause, the mortality rate in women was 54% higher, and it was 86% higher if the cause was not suicide, researchers said.
Researchers recommend that future studies deal with residual confounding by shared biologic and family characteristic.
“We might be able to prevent [MIs] and other heart-related conditions by treating these siblings early on and recommending stress management,” Rostila said. “However, more detailed information from medical records, shared childhood social environment and family characteristics, and data on personal and relational characteristics is required to uncover the mechanisms causing the association between sibling death and [MI].”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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