To avoid the risk of heart disease, it would be better to be the eldest and not have more than four brothers and sisters.
- Those who have only one or two brothers and sisters would be the least at risk, ahead of only children and families with more than four children.
- Sex matters and eldest girls are said to be more protected than eldest boys.
Genetics and lifestyle are two factors that affect heart health. According to Swedish researchers, family size and birth order also play a role. Their study, published on May 25 in the journal BMJ Open, suggests that the eldest is the most protected. On the other hand, having many brothers and sisters would be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
Sibling size, location and gender matter
The authors looked at data from more than 2.6 million adults born between 1932 and 1960. When the study began in 1990, participants were between the ages of 30 and 58. In addition, the researchers collected data on heart problems and cerebrovascular accidents (strokes), whether fatal or not, that occurred during the following 25 years. The follow-up took place for 25 years, until 2015. The average age at the time of follow-up was 67 years, with a range ranging from 55 years to 83 years.
The results revealed that the risk of suffering a cardiovascular event depends on the size of the sibling, the place within it and the sex. Those with only one or two siblings would be the most protected, ahead of only children. Large families with at least four children would present the highest risk. The elderly would be the least affected by possible non-fatal cardiovascular and coronary events. For the rest, the sex of the child is important. If the eldest is a boy, then he would have a higher risk of death than the second and third born. If the eldest is a girl, the danger would be greater for her than for her sibling born second, but equivalent to those born afterwards.
Results to be confirmed
“Further research is needed to understand the links between the number and rank of siblings and health consequencesunderlined Peter Nilsson, researcher at Lund University in Malmö and lead author of the study. Future research should aim to find biological or social mechanisms linking first-born status to lower risk of cardiovascular disease..”
This is an observational study and it does not allow us to conclude on a place of cause and effect but only on a correlation. However, the researchers took into account many factors such as income, obesity, diabetes and alcoholism. However, they had no information about the participants’ smoking and diet.
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