FH??

[jillgloucester]

Is FH to do with high cholestrol in the family??? Ive had a heart attack at 56yrs,,my dad did too but died from it,,so i would say its hereditary. My cholestrol was 4.6 at the time , so low i would say..... Would I be classed as having FH because of heart attacks in the family.......??? or is it only to do with high cholestrol???

[YvonneD]

F.H. = Familial Hypercholesterolaemia

Familial = runs in the family so is inherited

Hyper = too much

Cholesterol - a type of fat essential to the body

Aemia - in the blood.

If the faulty gene that causes F.H. is passed on (and every child with an F.H. parent has a 50/50 chance of inheriting) then the child has F.H.

The good news is that, if you do not inherit then you cannot pass it on. i.e. the faulty gene cannot skip a generation.

Any woman who has a heart attack before the menopause is almost certain to have F.H.

The only way to be sure is to have a genetic test but if any of your dad's siblings had a heart attack at a young age then the probability is that your family is like mine and you have this gene.

I would suggest three ways forward :

1. Contact HEART UK (the cholesterol charity) for further information

2. Suggest to any aunts, uncles, cousins on your father's side of the family that they have a blood test for raised cholesterol

3. If you have any brothers, sisters or children, advise them to get checked.

To all those relations, if they don't have FH then they don't have to worry about it. If they do have FH then they can do something about it to prevent an early death.

[jillgloucester in reply to YvonneD]

Yvonne....thank you for your information ,, very good to know...........

The only thing is the raised cholesterol...I didn't have that anyway cos my cholesterol was only 4.6 anyway? Unless the C. test is done in a different way??

Pity ,, I dont know anyone who knows about my dads family and I have half bro and sis and they wont count,, i do have kids tho...............I will try and find something out somewhere..thanks again for the info,,brillant.....im learning alot on here............

[Aliwally]

People with FH have very high levels of cholesterol. GP's are told to consider it a possibility in anything over 7.5, some people on this site have had levels of 14.

An un medicated level of 4.6 would indicate that you do not have FH. Maybe your doctor would be able to give another reason for heart disease in your family, I don't know.

Nobody would offer you a genetic test for FH with a TC of 4.6, mine was 8.9 and I had to fight the system to get one!

[YvonneD]

Was your cholesterol level down to 4.6 because you were on statins Jill (re your question on 23rd Feb)?. If so, what were your levels when you had your heart attack I wonder?

[jillgloucester]

My level was 4.6 when I had the heart attack ,,its 3.6 now after being on statins for over a year,,,,my blood pressureat the time was average 120/80, pulse too75ish