Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is High Cholesterol?High Cholesterol: Signs and SymptomsIs High Cholesterol Hereditary?Genetic Risk: Familial HypercholesterolemiaHow to Diagnose and Treat High CholesterolWays to Prevent High CholesterolFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is High Cholesterol?
High Cholesterol: Signs and Symptoms
Is High Cholesterol Hereditary?
Genetic Risk: Familial Hypercholesterolemia
How to Diagnose and Treat High Cholesterol
Ways to Prevent High Cholesterol
Frequently Asked Questions
If someone in your immediate family has been diagnosed withhigh cholesterol, you may be wondering if you, too, are at risk.
This article will discuss how high cholesterol can be hereditary, as well as how healthcare professionals diagnose and treat the condition.
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Cholesterolis a fatty molecule that your cells need to function. These molecules are made in your liver, but they also come from your diet and other sources. While you need cholesterol to survive, having too much of it in your blood can cause health problems.
To understand when cholesterol is bad and when it’s good, you need to understand the different types of cholesterol and their normal ranges:
What is a Healthy Cholesterol Level By Age?
While elevated LDL cholesterol is bad, high HDL cholesterol is good. Things like stress, high blood sugar, diabetes, and even genetics can cause these numbers to reach unhealthy levels.
RecapNot all cholesterol is bad. HDL cholesterol helps remove fat molecules from your body, but high LDL cholesterol can clog your blood vessels and cause health problems.
Recap
Not all cholesterol is bad. HDL cholesterol helps remove fat molecules from your body, but high LDL cholesterol can clog your blood vessels and cause health problems.
If you see your doctor for regular preventive or wellness visits, they may perform alipid panelto check the cholesterol levels in your blood. This is the best way to tell if your cholesterol levels are unhealthy.
Cholesterol levelscan creep up to unhealthy levels with nosymptomsat all. Over time, however, cholesterol buildup in your blood, vessels, and tissue will start to be more noticeable and cause the following:
RecapHigh cholesterol often doesn’t cause any symptoms. However, over time cholesterol buildup in your body can cause problems with circulation. This can affect your heart and brain in several ways.
High cholesterol often doesn’t cause any symptoms. However, over time cholesterol buildup in your body can cause problems with circulation. This can affect your heart and brain in several ways.
While lifestyle choices like your activity level, diet, and whether you smoke affect your cholesterol levels, some people may have elevated cholesterol regardless of their lifestyle choices.
Familial hypercholesterolemiais a hereditary form of high cholesterol. Your doctor may check your cholesterol and monitor you for this condition if you have a family history of high cholesterol or sudden heart attacks. Fatty deposits under the skin, especially around the eyes, are a common symptom of this kind of high cholesterol.
You can have familial hypercholesterolemia if one or both of your parents carry a genetic mutation that helps control the level of LDL cholesterol in your blood. In many cases, the mutation occurs in one of the followinggenes:
You have a 50% chance of inheriting the gene mutation that causes hereditary high cholesterol from each parent who carries it. This means that if one parent carries an affected gene, you have a 50% chance of developing familial hypercholesterolemia.
If both parents carry the gene—or have more than one gene mutation that could lead to the condition—your chances of developing the condition are even higher. People who have genes from both parents need appropriate diagnosis and treatment to live a healthy life.
RecapIf one of your parents carries one of the genetic mutations that cause familial hypercholesterolemia, you have a 50% chance of inheriting the condition. Your risk is much higher if both of your parents carry one of these genes.
If one of your parents carries one of the genetic mutations that cause familial hypercholesterolemia, you have a 50% chance of inheriting the condition. Your risk is much higher if both of your parents carry one of these genes.
Cholesterol screenings are part of wellness visits every few years, but if high cholesterol runs in your family, you may need more frequent testing and treatment to avoid complications.
Diagnosing High Cholesterol
The first step to diagnosing high cholesterol is to share a detailed personal and family health history with your doctor. If your parents or other close relatives have high cholesterol and heart disease, your doctor may check your health with lab tests.
Most doctors will complete a routine cholesterol screening during a wellness exam starting at age 20, repeating the test every four to six years.Lipid panels measure your cholesterol levels, but if your doctor thinks you have a genetic risk for high cholesterol, they may perform more frequent tests.
If a child has a known history of familial hypercholesterolemia, their doctor will start checking their cholesterol levels with blood tests around age 2.
How Accurate Are Home Cholesterol Tests?
Treating High Cholesterol
If you have familial hypercholesterolemia, you will have to take medications to keep your cholesterol levels in check. Several types ofmedicationsmight be used to lower your cholesterol, including:
RecapMake sure to tell your doctor if you have a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease. If genes are the cause of your high cholesterol, you’ll need to take medications on top of making lifestyle changes.
Make sure to tell your doctor if you have a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease. If genes are the cause of your high cholesterol, you’ll need to take medications on top of making lifestyle changes.
Making healthy lifestyle choices can help you keep your cholesterol under control. These include:
If you know you have a family history of high cholesterol or have been diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia, you cannot prevent the condition from developing. However, you can work closely with your doctor to manage your condition well and prevent complications. This includes checking your cholesterol levels regularly and taking medications that can lower your cholesterol.
Summary
High cholesterol can cause a lot of serious health problems, including high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. While some people can manage high cholesterol with lifestyle changes, this usually isn’t enough for people who inherited familial hypercholesterolemia. These people will need to manage their condition with medications and lifestyle changes to prevent complications.
A Word from Verywell
A lot of serious health problems can develop because of high cholesterol, and some people might not even know how at risk they are. Familial hypercholesterolemia can go undetected and put you at risk of conditions like heart attack or stroke.
Be sure to review your family medical history with your doctor so that this condition can be caught and treated early. Early detection and proper management can help you keep your cholesterol under control and prevent serious complications.
Learn MoreFoods That Lower Cholesterol
8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Cholesterol: what you need to know about high blood cholesterol.MedlinePlus.Familial hypercholesterolemia.National Organization for Rare Disorders.Familial hypercholesterolemia.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Familial hypercholesterolemia.American Heart Association.Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).American Heart Association.How to get your cholesterol tested.Chaudhary R, Garg J, Shah N, Sumner A.PCSK9 inhibitors: a new era of lipid lowering therapy.World J Cardiol. 2017;9(2):76-91. doi:10.4330/wjc.v9.i2.76Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing high cholesterol.
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Cholesterol: what you need to know about high blood cholesterol.MedlinePlus.Familial hypercholesterolemia.National Organization for Rare Disorders.Familial hypercholesterolemia.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Familial hypercholesterolemia.American Heart Association.Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).American Heart Association.How to get your cholesterol tested.Chaudhary R, Garg J, Shah N, Sumner A.PCSK9 inhibitors: a new era of lipid lowering therapy.World J Cardiol. 2017;9(2):76-91. doi:10.4330/wjc.v9.i2.76Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing high cholesterol.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Cleveland Clinic.Cholesterol: what you need to know about high blood cholesterol.MedlinePlus.Familial hypercholesterolemia.National Organization for Rare Disorders.Familial hypercholesterolemia.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Familial hypercholesterolemia.American Heart Association.Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).American Heart Association.How to get your cholesterol tested.Chaudhary R, Garg J, Shah N, Sumner A.PCSK9 inhibitors: a new era of lipid lowering therapy.World J Cardiol. 2017;9(2):76-91. doi:10.4330/wjc.v9.i2.76Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing high cholesterol.
Cleveland Clinic.Cholesterol: what you need to know about high blood cholesterol.
MedlinePlus.Familial hypercholesterolemia.
National Organization for Rare Disorders.Familial hypercholesterolemia.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Familial hypercholesterolemia.
American Heart Association.Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).
American Heart Association.How to get your cholesterol tested.
Chaudhary R, Garg J, Shah N, Sumner A.PCSK9 inhibitors: a new era of lipid lowering therapy.World J Cardiol. 2017;9(2):76-91. doi:10.4330/wjc.v9.i2.76
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing high cholesterol.
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