Children whose parents live well into their 80s seem to have healthier hearts in middle age compared with children whose parents did not live this long. Moreover, the heart advantage continues over time, which should help them follow in their parents' footsteps. The findings come from the Framingham Heart Study, a study relating to several generations on risk factors for heart disease and other diseases among residents of prefix = st1 /Framingham,Massachusetts. The worst Framingham Risk Scores - a measure of heart disease risk that uses age, smoking, and blood pressure to estimate a person's possibility of suffering a heart attack - were found in children whose parents had both died before age 85. The best risk scores were found among children whose parents had both lived to age 85 or older. "A greater understanding of the genetics of risk of heart or blood disease factors and long life may lead to advances in the prevention and treatment of heart and blood diseases in the future," Dr. terry commented to Reuters Health. Dr. Clyde B. Schechter adds in an editorial: "We are only beginning to learn about the factors of exceptional long life. Several fruitful areas are already the subject of active research, but much more remains to be done." "Progress in this area is not just of natural interest," Schechter from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York writes, "it also has the great possibility to promote discoveries that will improve the prevention and treatment of some age - related diseases such as heart or blood diseases." Children whose parents lived up to 80 or above seem to_.
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