Are High Cholesterol Levels Troubling You? Familial Hypercholesterolemia May Have A Role

Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a condition characterized by elevated levels of ‘bad’ or low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

This condition occurs in nearly 1 in 500 individuals.

According to the European Atherosclerosis Society, there is a 13 fold increased risk of coronary heart disease.  

What’s more, nearly 90% of FH patients remain undiagnosed.

It has also been found that people who undertook treatment had an 80% reduction in risk.

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Do you eat a healthy and balanced diet routinely but still have high LDL cholesterol levels?

Let’s find out more about your FH genes and cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a precursor for many molecules like vitamin D, bile acids and even steroid hormones.

It forms the lipid component of cell membranes, aiding in stabilizing and maintaining the integrity of the membrane.

Nearly one-fifth of circulating cholesterol is from the diet consumed.

High intake of cholesterol-rich foods increases serum cholesterol levels temporarily, with a reduction in levels after about seven hours.

Cholesterol is synthesized primarily in the liver, intestines, adrenal gland and in the reproductive organs.

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Cholesterol transport

LDL particles transport cholesterol from the liver to the extremities, while HDL particles transport cholesterol from the extremities back to the liver, where it is removed from the body.

The genes associated with familial hypercholesterolemia are LDLR, that codes for the LDL receptor, APOB that codes for apolipoprotein B100 and PCSK9 genes that code for proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, which promotes intracellular degradation by binding to LDLR.  

80% of FH incidences are due to variations in the LDLR genes, followed by variations in the APOB and PCSK9 genes.

Xcode Life’s Gene Health Report provides information about familial hypercholesterolemia.

An understanding of risk will help in the initiation of therapeutic strategies that can lower risk.

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How can you find out your genetic risk for familial hypercholesterolemia risk?

Upload your 23andme, Ancestry DNA or FTDNA raw data to find out if you have the genetic variants associated with increased risk of familial hypercholesterolemia.

What can you do with this information?

There is a complex relationship between genes and environment with factors like diet and lifestyle also playing a role in the outcome.

Therefore, the information obtained from your health genetic report can be used to tailor diet and lifestyle to lower risk of diseases.

The health report should be interpreted only by a qualified health care practitioner.

This report generated using raw data from ancestry tests and has limitations.

Only an exome report is clinically certified to diagnose disease conditions.

Xcode Life Gene Health Report currently offers 50+ reports spanning 700+ health-related categories.