Over the past 22 years, nearly 1500 brothers and sisters have enrolled in these studies of families where there has been a coronary heart problem at a young age (less than 60).  The study was begun in 1982 as a way to find out why heart disease runs in families. 

 Did you know that brothers and sisters of people with a heart attack or angina have a heart disease risk that is as high as 12 times that of the general population? Did you know that this risk is even higher than it is than if a parent is affected?

Our family study is designed to find out how to prevent this high risk.  We have been almost continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health to continue this important work. Our website will lead you to some of the special studies we are now doing and to some ways that we know will be helpful.

The study was founded by Dr. Diane Becker with the help of Dr. Lewis Becker and Dr. Thomas Pearson, who is now at the University of Rochester where he is a Dean of the School of Medicine. 

Families were enrolled from nine Baltimore Hospitals and come from all over the United States, with some families from Bermuda, Greece, Egypt, Morocco, Sweden, and Great Britain. The “Sib Study” team is now very large and the studies are moving into the next generation in the same families.

We hope you will find the information on the website useful.  We will regularly add information about our findings and post a newsletter.  Email us with news and thoughts. We appreciate each and every person who has joined this work.