How
Might My Genes Affect My Cholesterol Level?
Cholesterol
produced by your body, based on family history.You
may have inherited a trait from your parents
that causes high cholesterol.
Like many people, you may not know that
your body produces cholesterol naturally,
based on family history—despite the fact
that it’s where more of your total cholesterol
comes from. Your liver makes cholesterol,
as do other individual cells throughout
your body. Once cholesterol is produced,
it can make its way into your bloodstream.
What does this process mean to you? Take
the cholesterol your body makes and add
it to the cholesterol you get from food.
Now you can see how easily cholesterol can
build up in your bloodstream and how your
overall cholesterol level can increase.
If your liver produce too much LDL
cholesterol or too little HDL
cholesterol. Or, you have faulty LDL receptors
on your liver cells.
Normally, your body removes LDL mostly by
absorbing it from your blood into your liver
using these receptors. If your receptors don't
work well, more LDL will be in your blood
causing your LDL level higher than normal.
Familial
hypercholesterolemia. People who
have no receptor sites on
their liver cells to absorb LDL from the blood
,have a form of inherited high cholesterol
called familial hypercholesterolemia,
or FH for short.
People
who have FH have high cholesterol from birth.
Their LDL levels may be two to three times
higher than normal.
There
are two forms of FH. About 1 in 500 people
has the more common form, and about 1 in 1
million has the less common form.
If you have FH, you are at greater risk for
developing atherosclerosis
and other blood vessel diseases. The risk
of dying from a heart attack
before age 40 is much higher in people who
have FH than in those who don't have the condition.
Many people with FH experience no symptoms
before suddenly having a fatal heart attack.
If you have this condition ,it's necessary
that you consult your GP for the treatment.
