A recent report in the journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine concludes that nearly 90% of people who carry the inherited condition for high cholesterol, familial hypercholesterolemia, were not even aware of it.
This discovery uncovered a blind spot in current testing guidlines, where it is now apparent that not enough people are getting the testing they should have been recieivng earlier.
These standard guidlines rely only on cholesterol levels as well as family history to determine whether one should recieve testing. However, some with familial hypercholesterolemia may slip through the cracks of these standard guidlines by either appearing healthy, having had a normal cholesterol level prior, or by simply not having clear knowledge of their family history regarding high cholesterol.
Unfortunately, many patients with FH have already developed heart disease related to high cholesterol, something that could have been prevented had they known their genetic predisposition at an earlier time.
It is imperative that a better screening criteria be developed in order to catch familial hypercholesterolemia in a wider range of individuals who may have previously not qualified.
News Article Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-11-21/most-people-arent-aware-of-genetic-risk-for-dangerously-high-cholesterol
More on familial hypercholesterolemia: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/genetic-conditions/familial-hypercholesterolemia-fh
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