The most common causes of high cholesterol are obesity, lack of physical activity and poor eating habits. In rare cases, however, the condition is inherited, affecting your low-density lipoprotein -- LDL -- cholesterol levels, and is known as familial hypercholesterolemia. Regardless of its cause, high cholesterol has no symptoms. However, when it's inherent, certain signs may present themselves.
Understanding Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Familial hypercholesterolemia results from a mutant gene that one or both parents can pass down to their children. If one of your parents carries the abnormal gene, your risk of inheriting the condition is 50 percent, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. As of 2011, one in 500 people carried the gene responsible for familial hypercholesterolemia. The abnormal gene prevents a specific LDL receptor in your liver from removing excess LDL cholesterol from your blood. This results in high LDL cholesterol levels from birth.
Dangers
If you have familial hypercholesterolemia, your risk of heart attack at a younger age is higher than in people without the condition. Men with this condition tend to have a heart attack in their 40s or 50s, with 85 percent experiencing a heart attack by the age of 60, reports the National Human Genome Research Institute. Women are prone to early heart attacks as well, but they experience them 10 years later than men do. For people who inherited the gene for this disorder from both parents, there's a likelihood of heart attack and death before the age of 30.
Signs
A family history of high LDL cholesterol levels is a significant sign of the condition; if you do not know your family's medical history, you must rely on physical indicators instead. The two most common are xanthomas, deposits of cholesterol under your skin and/or tendons, and xanthelasmas, cholesterol deposits on your eyelids. Xanthomas usually appear on pressure points, such as knees, heels, elbows and buttocks. They cause no pain and are firm and red-yellow in color. Xanthelasmas are similar -- yellowish deposits on or around the eyelids. The most common treatment addresses the underlying cause, high cholesterol levels.
Diagnosis
Your family doctor may discover xanthomas and xanthelasmas during a physical examination, which will prompt him to prescribe a cholesterol blood test. Although your results may show high LDL cholesterol levels, genetic testing actually diagnoses the abnormal gene responsible for familial hypercholesterolemia. Undergoing a heart function or stress test is another option for diagnosis.
Treatment
If you have familial hypercholesterolemia, your treatment plan doesn't differ much from treatment plans for others with high cholesterol. The program will emphasize dietary and lifestyle changes; lowering your weight; reducing your fat consumption to 30 percent of your total daily calories; and increasing the amount of physical exercise you get each day. Cholesterol-lowering medications are also necessary in most cases to reduce the risk of heart attack and death due to the severity of this condition.
