In a new study from Lund University, researchers found that first-born children have a lower risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes than brothers and sisters born later.
But people who are part of a large family with many siblings have an increased risk of these events.
It is well-known that family history—the health of parents and grandparents—has an impact on a person’s health, including their risk of cardiovascular events.
In the study, the team analyzed data on 1.36 million men and 1.32 million women born between 1932 and 1960 and aged 30-58 years in 1990.
They showed that first-borns had a lower risk of non-fatal heart disease than siblings born later.
First-born men had a higher risk of death than second and third-born siblings, while first-born women had a higher risk of death than second-born siblings, but equal to further siblings.
When the family size was looked at, compared with men with no siblings, men with one or two siblings had a lower risk of heart events, while those with four or more siblings had a higher risk.
Similarly, compared with men with no siblings, men with more than one sibling had a lower risk of death, while those with three or more siblings had an increased risk of coronary events.
A similar pattern was seen in women.
Compared with those with no siblings, women with three or more siblings had an increased risk of cardiovascular events, while those with two or more siblings had an increased risk of coronary events.
Women with one or more siblings had a lower risk of death.
The team says as policies to support families and the number of children currently vary widely between countries, their findings could have implications for public health.
Future research should be directed to find biological or social mechanisms linking the status of being firstborn to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
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The study is published in BMJ Open. One author of the study is Peter M Nilsson.
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