Doctors are neglecting an obvious way of reducing the number of heart attacks in younger people.

They should focus more effort on families that have already suffered one such case. The result could be a cut of more than 40 per cent in premature heart attacks, say a team from the University of Glasgow.

Brothers and sisters of people who suffer coronary heart disease at an early age have at least double the risk of developing it themselves, and children are also at increased risk, the team writes in the British Medical Journal.

This means that targeting care, advice and drug treatments towards such people could have far greater benefits than programmes aimed at the community as a whole.

Family members often share lifestyles as well as genes, eating similar and possibly unhealthy foods, smoking and taking little or no exercise.

The degree to which these factors influence the risk of premature heart disease is not clear, but could explain why partners of people with heart disease are also at risk.

Mothers play a more important part in determining risk than fathers because they have a stronger influence over the lifestyle of their children. The risk of a person suffering premature coronary heart disease is also higher if more than one first-degree relative is affected.

Earlier studies had suggested that targeting such high-risk groups with a “polypill” – to lower cholesterol and blood pressure and thin the blood – could cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke by up to 88 per cent.

The team, led by Professor Jill Pell, of Greater Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, said that in 2004, 15,616 people were admitted to hospital for heart attacks at relatively young ages (men aged between 20 and 54, and women between 20 and 64).

Of these, 7,369 were suffered by people with a family history of heart disease. Managing the risk by targeting could have prevented up to 88 per cent of these attacks, they said.

The team concludes that targeted screening could have prevented 42 per cent of premature heart attacks and and 8 per cent of all heart attacks.

The authors called for more research into screening. “First-degree relatives are an obvious, but neglected group at which primary prevention should be targeted.”

Ellen Mason, a heart nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “A clear system to invite close relatives of people with premature coronary heart disease for screening could play an important part in preventing heart attacks. While there are doctors and nurses in hospitals who encourage [a patient’s] visiting relatives to go to their GP surgery to have their risk assessed, often this is not considered a high priority and doesn’t happen, so a more regulated procedure would be of benefit.”

She continued: “It is interesting that this study also highlights the fact that partners of those with coronary heart disease are at a higher risk of developing it, due to shared risk factors in their lifestyle. For most people the risk of having a heart attack comes from habits such as smoking, lack of exercise, being overweight and having a diet too high in saturated fats.”

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