Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is an under-recognised genetic condition that causes elevated cholesterol in patients and affects approximately 1/250 people in Australia. Approximately 100,000 Australians have FH but only ~5% are diagnosed. This needs to change.
FH causes early cardiovascular disease and can be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in those affect. How do I know? Because a few years ago my brother with no significant co-morbidities and a healthy lifestyle had a life-threatening acute myocardial infarct (heart-attack) at the age of 43.
** Please note: General Practitioners in Australia, will be able to claim 5.75 CPD hours after listening to this episode and the other five in this Genetics Series. Full details and registration on our GP CPD Points page. The episodes in this collection are:
- Episode 10: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)
- Episode 15: Lynch syndrome
- Episode 21: Marfan syndrome
- Episode 30 & Episode 31: BrCa (Breast Cancer genes)
- Episode 40: Carrier screening
Our special guests for this episode include:
- Dr Gavin Brown (brother of the co-host)
- A/Professor Damon Bell (Chemical pathologist for Clinipath, PhD in FH, A/Prof at the School of Medicine at the University of Western Australia)
- Professor Graeme Suthers (Director of Sonic Genetics Australia)