{"id":854,"date":"2015-11-27T12:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T01:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/faqs\/"},"modified":"2016-04-11T14:37:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T04:37:52","slug":"faqs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1228 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-content\/uploads\/FAQ-e1457998718931.png\" alt=\"FAQ\" width=\"145\" height=\"122\" \/>To have your general questions answered, please email: <a href=\"mailto:admin@yoursecretariat.com.au\">admin@yoursecretariat.com.au<\/a><\/h4>\n<h3>What is Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH)?<\/h3>\n<p>Familial hypercholesterolaemia (pronounced hyper-cholesterol-ee-me-ah) usually called FH for short, literally means \u2018families with high cholesterol\u2019. FH is an inherited disorder, which means it is passed down from parent to child and often FH (or early heart attacks\/death) can be traced over several generations. See<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/what-is-fh\/#family_tree\">Typical family tree<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>FH causes very high LDL cholesterol (\u2018bad\u2019 cholesterol) from birth and will continue throughout life unless diagnosed and treated. This results in an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, specifically coronary artery disease (disease of the arteries of the heart) at an early age.<\/p>\n<p>Early age is defined as men before the age of 55 and women before the age of 60.<\/p>\n<p>People<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><b>without<\/b><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>FH tend to start getting high LDL cholesterol in middle age and take several decades to develop coronary artery disease. If you have FH this process starts at birth and means you can develop coronary artery disease as early as your 20s and 30s. When you have FH, heart attacks at such an early age are not uncommon. Sometimes these heart attacks are fatal.<\/p>\n<p><b>Early diagnosis and treatment of FH can delay or prevent cardiovascular disease and early death.<\/b><\/p>\n<h3>How is FH diagnosed?<\/h3>\n<p>People with FH:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>have high LDL cholesterol from birth<\/li>\n<li>have other family member\/s with high LDL cholesterol (definitely a parent, 50% siblings and 50% children), see <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/what-is-fh\/#family_tree\">Typical family tree<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>may have cardiovascular disease*\u00b9 at an early age*\u00b2<\/li>\n<li>may have a close family member, who has had cardiovascular disease*\u00b9 at an early age*\u00b2<\/li>\n<li>may have\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/diagnosis#sas\">visible cholesterol deposits<\/a><\/span> around the body.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>*\u00b9Cardiovascular disease can be:\u00a0heart attack, stroke, angina, stent, coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) or other circulation problems.<\/p>\n<p>*\u00b2<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Early age is defined as men before the age of 55 and women before the age of 60.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you think you and your family have FH, you should see your doctor or healthcare provider. A small\u00a0<a href=\"www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/diagnosis#blood_tests\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>sample of\u00a0blood\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/a>will be taken and the cholesterol levels measured. Your doctor will\u00a0also do a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/diagnosis#sas\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>simple\u00a0examination<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>and ask for details of your\u00a0<strong>family history\u00a0<\/strong>(other family members with cardiovascular disease). You may be referred to a specialist lipid clinic, usually in a hospital outpatient department, that deals with cholesterol disorders for further tests, including\u00a0<a href=\"www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/diagnosis#gt\">genetic testing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>How can FH be treated?<\/h3>\n<p>FH is treated by lowering LDL cholesterol levels. This can be done by following a healthy lifestyle along with taking medication.<\/p>\n<h3>Why is treating high LDL cholesterol so important?<\/h3>\n<p>If there is too much LDL cholesterol in the blood, it can deposit in the walls of the arteries giving rise to<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><a title=\"Cholesterol and cardiovascular disease\" href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/cholesterol-and-cardiovascular-disease\/\">cardiovascular disease<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>causing heart attacks, stroke and other circulation problems.<\/p>\n<h3>Is there a cure for FH?<\/h3>\n<p>There is currently no cure for FH, so life-long treatment is required.<\/p>\n<h3>How did I get FH?<\/h3>\n<p>You inherited one \u2018faulty\u2019 LDL receptor gene from one of your parents (the most common form), so 50% of your LDL receptors don\u2019t work; you have heterozygous FH.<\/p>\n<h3>Will my children have FH?<\/h3>\n<p>The same way you inherited FH so will your child\/children.<\/p>\n<p>You have one \u2018faulty\u2019 LDL receptor gene (F) and one normal gene (N).<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1562\" src=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-content\/uploads\/punnet-square.jpg\" alt=\"punnet square\" width=\"693\" height=\"272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-content\/uploads\/punnet-square.jpg 693w, https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-content\/uploads\/punnet-square-300x118.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 693px) 100vw, 693px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>There is a 50% chance that any child will get the \u2018faulty\u2019 gene (F) i.e. if you have 4 children, two are likely to have FH.<\/p>\n<p>FH is an autosomal dominant disorder which means if you have the \u2018faulty\u2019 gene you have FH.<\/p>\n<h3><a name=\"FAQ_statins\"><\/a>I have seen a lot of negatives things about statins. Are they necessary, are they safe?<\/h3>\n<p>The benefits of statins are greatest in people with heart disease or other risk factors for heart disease, such as FH, diabetes and high blood pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Statins have been shown to be highly cost-effective medication that decrease suffering and disability related to heart disease, as well as saving lives and government expenditure on healthcare. They have a long safety record and are well tolerated. Like every drug, statins do have side-effects, the most frequently reported (5 to 10 % of users) being muscle pain and tiredness. These respond well to lowering the dose of the statin, to switching statins and to supplementing the diet with co-enzyme Q10, fish oils or vitamin D. Most people with this initial side-effect can continue to be treated with a statin with no further symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>There has also been concern about an increase incidence of diabetes, but this is usually seen with higher doses of statins and in people who already have a predisposition to diabetes, such as obesity and slight elevation in blood glucose levels.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of statins far outweigh the side-effects. People prescribed statins should not stop them without consulting their doctor. Stopping a statin if you are known to have heart disease or have a predisposition to heart disease (FH, diabetes, high blood pressure), may lead to a heart attack.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To have your general questions answered, please email: admin@yoursecretariat.com.au What is Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH)? Familial hypercholesterolaemia (pronounced hyper-cholesterol-ee-me-ah) usually called FH for short, literally means \u2018families with high cholesterol\u2019. FH is an inherited disorder, which means it is passed down from parent to child and often FH (or early heart attacks\/death) can be traced over &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">FAQs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":833,"menu_order":270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>FAQs - FH Australasia Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FAQs - FH Australasia Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To have your general questions answered, please email: admin@yoursecretariat.com.au What is Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH)? Familial hypercholesterolaemia (pronounced hyper-cholesterol-ee-me-ah) usually called FH for short, literally means \u2018families with high cholesterol\u2019. FH is an inherited disorder, which means it is passed down from parent to child and often FH (or early heart attacks\/death) can be traced over &hellip; Continue reading FAQs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FH Australasia Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-11T04:37:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-content\/uploads\/FAQ-e1457998718931.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/\",\"name\":\"FAQs - FH Australasia Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-27T01:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-11T04:37:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Patients\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/cholesterol-and-cardiovascular-disease\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"FAQs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/\",\"name\":\"FH Australasia Network\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FAQs - FH Australasia Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FAQs - FH Australasia Network","og_description":"To have your general questions answered, please email: admin@yoursecretariat.com.au What is Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH)? Familial hypercholesterolaemia (pronounced hyper-cholesterol-ee-me-ah) usually called FH for short, literally means \u2018families with high cholesterol\u2019. FH is an inherited disorder, which means it is passed down from parent to child and often FH (or early heart attacks\/death) can be traced over &hellip; Continue reading FAQs","og_url":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/","og_site_name":"FH Australasia Network","article_modified_time":"2016-04-11T04:37:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-content\/uploads\/FAQ-e1457998718931.png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/","name":"FAQs - FH Australasia Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-27T01:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-11T04:37:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/faqs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Patients","item":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/patients\/cholesterol-and-cardiovascular-disease\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"FAQs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/","name":"FH Australasia Network","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1785,"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/854\/revisions\/1785"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athero.org.au\/fh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}