Familial Hypercholesterolemia: A Life-Threatening Inherited Condition

Familial hypercholesterolemia causes very high cholesterol levels. This inherited disorder increases your chances of having a heart attack early in life.

What Factors Contribute to Hypercholesterolemia Disease?

• Under normal circumstances cholesterol is removed from the blood via LDL receptors
• Two genes (one from the father, one from the mother) are responsible for making LDL receptors

If you have familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), an abnormal gene has been passed down to you (from a parent with FH).

• Half of the LDL receptors are missing or do not work the way they should to remove cholesterol normally
• People with FH have consistently high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which leads to premature atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries

Hypercholesterolemia disease results in damage to blood vessels, blockage of arteries, and heart attacks, that occur at an earlier age.

• Your children also face a 50% chance of inheriting this disorder
• Children in a FH family should be checked at age two

If you have familial hypercholesterolemia, what can you do? Early diagnosis is critical to prevent an early death.

The goal in treating hypercholesterolemia disease is to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic heart disease and heart attack.

Changing What you Eat

• Reduce saturated fat intake: decrease the amount of pork, lamb, or beef you eat
• Switch to low-fat dairy products, eliminate certain oils (such as coconut and palm oil)
• Curb consumption of egg yolks and organ meats

In treating familial hypercholesterolemia, further reductions in fat may be necessary. Dietary counseling is a must to make necessary adjustments to your eating habits.

Exercise

Exercise is important when trying to combat hypercholesterolemia disease. Reduce weight to aid in lowering cholesterol levels.

Medication

Drug therapy may be initiated if diet, exercise, and weight-loss efforts have not reduced cholesterol levels for people with familial hypercholesterolemia. Cholesterol-reducing agents are available, such as lovastatin and other statin drugs, gemfibrozil, probucol, or bile acid sequestrant resins.

• Outcomes vary, depending upon the type of hypercholesterolemia disease you are grappling with

Natural Substances

• Beta-sitosterol is used to combat coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia. This plant sterol has a chemical structure that is similar to cholesterol. It is believed that it inhibits intestinal absorption of cholesterol.
• A concentrated form of vitamin E (tocotrienol rich fraction or TRF) inhibits the activity of an enzyme involved in cholesterol biosynthesis. A case study of a five-year-old boy in India (who had familial hypercholesterolemia) showed that the boy experienced a 20% decline, after about two months of tocotrienol supplements.
• Lecithin oil renders an inhibitory effect on absorption of cholesterol and is used for those suffering from vascular disorders and from heart disease

Hypercholesterolemia disease is a serious inherited condition that should be treated under medical direction.

If you suffer from familial hypercholesterolemia, obtain appropriate medical advice and implement strategies to reduce your risk.