Fairfield-Echo.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- People who've inherited a brain aneurysm (weakened blood vessel) may experience a dangerous blood vessel rupture at an earlier age than relatives from the previous generation did, a new U.S. study says.

This "genetic anticipation" occurs when one generation has a disease and passes it on, and the next generation has the disease earlier in life, explained study author Dr. Daniel Woo, an associate professor of neurology and director of cerebrovascular genetics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

The findings were expected to be presented at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting in San Francisco.

About 10 percent of people who suffer an intracranial aneurysm (bleeding inside the brain caused by the rupture of a weakened blood vessel) have a first-degree relative who also had one. This kind of rupture causes a type of stroke called subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Researchers looked at 35 families in which intracranial aneurysms had occurred in a parent and child or an aunt/uncle and niece/nephew.

"We found a strong anticipation between generations, with the age of the rupture being an average 15 years earlier from one generation to the next," Woo said in a prepared statement. "So, if someone had an intracranial aneurysm in the parent generation at the age of 50, their kids tended to have their aneurysm rupture around age 35."

He and his colleague found that smoking and high blood pressure were not factors in the differences between the generations. The researchers suspect that some genetic abnormality worsens with each generation.

"Our findings suggest that in families where aneurysm rupture tends to occur, early screening of younger generations is justified, because there is strong evidence that they are at higher risk of having it a younger age," Woo said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about brain aneurysm.