If you have Familial cholesterol, why dont you have a stroke or heart attack at a very young age?

If your born with this cholesterol problem, then i imagine your cholesterol would be high as a child, therefore applying the same or similar risk as a teen or adult....

Bear in mind the amount of crap a child can eat.....when i was a child it was breakfast of any cereal (eg frosties with full fat milk),lunch- school dinners(eg chips, meat,beans - high sugar pudding), sweets,chocolates,fizzy drinks,evening meal(eg meat and 2/3 veg and a pudding),

So if high cholesterol thickens blood- sticks to arteries, causes blockages thus leading to heart attacks and strokes, how come it is only a high risk once discovered as an adult???

9 Replies

  • It depends on the type of FH you inherit and from how many parents. Children who inherit from both parents do suffer heart attacks - and can die - so need diagnosing as soon as possible. This is why HEART UK - the cholesterol charity - would like to trace every family who carry this gene, in order to help with advice.

  • It's usually children who have inherited both copies of the affected gene (homozygous FH) not those with one copy who are at very increased risk.

    Homozygous FH is much rarer.

  • So, with that, i wander other than just doing a blood test that only tells you , you have high cholesterol, is there a way they can actually test for this faulty gene , as it seems the number of people who are diagnosed from a blood result as having inherited high chol, seems very high- i wander if there has also been survery done of how many people in UK have been diagnosed with this form- and what the findings are.

    I suspect that there may be cases where other issues with a persons life arnt being addressed by thier gp fully, and theyre being handed statins asap without further exammination beyond blood results, a few suggestions and a general health check.

    My self i was told it was in my family , even tho they have no records of any of my famiy members to make such a judgment- theyre findings were taking from a few high chol readings and a physical checkup- which indicated im over wieght.

  • Hello,

    I have similar questions. Three boys in my family, one elder brother, one younger brother. I have two children, one boy and one girl. Boy married with three children all boys! There is dyslexia in the family. I only found out three years ago? Not knowing what the problem was I had very difficult life. For grandchildren the school in UK are good at checking for dyslexia now days.

    I would like my grandchildren to be checked for cholesterol "gene". What tests are available? It looks as they all have to wait till they get to 50 years of age!

    May be NHS will start on Station when the grand children get to 30 years of age?

  • This is one of my pet gripes!

    You can distinguish FH from other forms of high cholesterol running in families but, in the absence of physical signs, such as cholesterol deposits in the tendons and eyelids, the only way you can do this is by genetic testing to identify the gene responsible. This is expensive and although freely available in Wales and Scotland, rather more patchy in England.

    Also I was reading the best age to test on cholesterol levels alone for FH is children between 8 and 13. For those of us over 50, cholesterol levels alone are a poor predictor of FH (only 5%), so our raised cholesterol is due to something else genetic because I don't buy the notion that all of us are totally unhealthy and gorge ourselves on fat!

  • Im inclined to think diet issues caused by the changes in our diet from what our bodies are used to and how the food we eat is manufactured. My though is that in the same way they realised when cows became sick , it was because they were feeding them ground meat that the same could be for our own bodies... genetically modified, man made engineered food that is designed to make money first and foremost.

  • Hello,

    Thanks, I agree on the food. How can we be sure of the mathematical numbers on blood test and results?

    In engineering design UK experienced tow problems, London eye lifting, cable broke and the walk bridge, swinging, people could not walk on it. Had to be re-designed.

    Human life? Is the research correct with the blood test numbers?

  • I don't have familial cholesterol

    I found interesting article

    What you need to know,

    *Cholesterol is a minor player in heart disease

    *Cholesterol levels are a poor predictor of heart attacks

    *Half the people with hearth disease have normal cholesterol

    *Half the people with elevated cholesterol have healthy hearts

    *Lowering cholesterol has extremely limited benefits

    Stephen Sinatra

    Metabolic Cardiology

  • soooo am i right in thinking a 1.4 of the population of ??? have high chol and heart attacks, what about strokes???

You may also like...