Should your surname carry a health warning?

Research: The Brady Bunch? New evidence for nominative determinism in patients' health: Retrospective, population based cohort study

2013-12-13

(Press-News.org) Contact information: Stephanie Burns
sburns@bmj.com
44-020-738-36920
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Should your surname carry a health warning? Research: The Brady Bunch? New evidence for nominative determinism in patients' health: Retrospective, population based cohort study Patients named Brady could be at an increased risk of requiring a pacemaker compared with the general population, say researchers in a paper published in the Christmas edition of The BMJ this week.

"Nominative determinism" describes how certain people are more likely to choose a profession because of the influence of their surname with a study by Pelham et al concluding that people have a preference for things "that are connected to the self" and are disproportionately more likely to find careers whose "label is closely related to their name".

Researchers from Dublin wanted to discover whether a person's name might influence their health. They therefore looked at whether people with the surname "Brady" had a higher incidence of bradycardia (slow heart rate) and "whether they were Brady by name and brady by nature".

Researchers used data from a hospital database and the percentage of the population with the surname Brady was determined through use of online telephone listings in Dublin, Ireland, between 2007 and 2013.

There were 579 Bradys listed in total and 1012 pacemakers were fitted during this time. The median age of patients was 77. Eight (0.8%) devices were implanted in patients named Brady. The proportion of pacemaker recipients among Bradys (1.38%) was significantly higher than among non-Bradys (0.61%).

The researchers say this is the first study to demonstrate a link between people's names and their health and say that the link between the name "Brady" and bradycardia could be due to heritage and "familial genetic disposition".

They add that the increased "Brady bradyphenomenon" could be attributable to increased levels of bradykinin, which in some animal studies has shown to decrease heart rate.

The researchers conclude that the influence of a person's name can determine aspects of their health and urge further research which could look at whether there are increased rate of obesity in Fatt family or depression in the Lowe family, for example. They say these findings may have a significant role in public health medicine and "name-specific screening programmes could be developed for at-risk families".

### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Is laughter really the best medicine?

2013-12-13

Is laughter really the best medicine? Food for thought: Laughter and MIRTH (methodical investigation of risibility, therapeutic and harmful): Narrative synthesis Laughter may not be the best medicine after all and can even be harmful to some patients, suggests ...

Quantum waves at the heart of organic solar cells

2013-12-13

Quantum waves at the heart of organic solar cells By using an ultrafast camera, scientists say they have observed the very first instants following the absorption of light into artificial yet organic nanostructures and found that charges not only formed rapidly ...

How Wagner's operas held secrets of his disabling migraines and headaches

2013-12-13

How Wagner's operas held secrets of his disabling migraines and headaches Medical histories: 'Compulsive plague! Pain without end!' How Richard Wagner played out his migraine in the opera Siegfried In a paper published in the Christmas edition of The BMJ, researchers ...

Rapid evolution of novel forms: Environmental change triggers inborn capacity for adaptation

2013-12-13

Rapid evolution of novel forms: Environmental change triggers inborn capacity for adaptation CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (December 12, 2013) – In the classical view of evolution, species experience spontaneous genetic mutations that produce various novel traits—some ...

Scientists discover double meaning in genetic code

2013-12-13

Scientists discover double meaning in genetic code Discovery casts new light on how changes to DNA impact health and disease Scientists have discovered a second code hiding within DNA. This second code contains information that changes how scientists read the instructions ...

Mayo Clinic: First in-human trial of endoxifen shows promise as breast cancer treatment

2013-12-13

Mayo Clinic: First in-human trial of endoxifen shows promise as breast cancer treatment ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A Phase I trial of endoxifen, an active metabolite of the cancer drug tamoxifen, indicates that the experimental drug is safe, with early evidence for anti-tumor activity, ...

Speeding up gene discovery

2013-12-13

Speeding up gene discovery CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, which identified nearly 20,000 protein-coding genes, scientists have been trying to decipher the roles of those genes. A new approach developed at MIT, the Broad ...

Younger, early breast cancer patients often undergo unnecessary staging, imaging procedures at time

2013-12-13

Younger, early breast cancer patients often undergo unnecessary staging, imaging procedures at time Abstract #P3-06-02 SAN ANTONIO ¬¬– More than one third of younger, early stage breast cancer patients undergo unnecessary imaging procedures ...

US ranks near bottom among industrialized nations in efficiency of health care spending

2013-12-13

US ranks near bottom among industrialized nations in efficiency of health care spending UCLA, McGill study also shows women fare worse than men in most countries A new study by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and McGill ...

Noble gas molecule discovered in space

2013-12-13

Noble gas molecule discovered in space A molecule containing a noble gas has been discovered in space by a team including astronomers from Cardiff University. The find was made using a Cardiff-led instrument aboard Europe's Herschel Space Observatory. The ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Tech Extension Co. and Tech Extension Taiwan to build next-generation 3D integration manufacturing lines using Tokyo Tech's BBCube Technology

The threat of polio paralysis may have disappeared, but enterovirus paralysis is just as dangerous and surveillance and testing systems are desperately needed

Study shows ChatGPT failed when challenging ESCMID guideline for treating brain abscesses

Study finds resistance to critically important antibiotics in uncooked meat sold for human and animal consumption

Global cervical cancer vaccine roll-out shows it to be very effective in reducing cervical cancer and other HPV-related disease, but huge variations between countries in coverage

Personalised “cocktails” of antibiotics, probiotics and prebiotics hold great promise in treating a common form of irritable bowel syndrome, pilot study finds