Thousands to be tested for cholesterol condition

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of people at risk of developing heart disease from an inherited cholesterol condition should be tracked down by doctors and offered treatment, the government's medicines advisory body said on Wednesday.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidelines to encourage doctors to identify the estimated 95,000 people in Britain unaware they have familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH).

The condition, caused by a genetic mutation, triggers dangerously high levels of cholesterol in the blood and without treatment can lead to early death from coronary heart disease.

It affects around one in 500 people but only 15,000 of those with the condition in Britain have been identified to date.

NICE said doctors should consider checking for FH in patients with high levels of cholesterol, especially where there is a family history of premature heart disease.

Children and siblings of someone with FH have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the condition, and should be offered cholesterol and DNA tests, it said.

NICE said children of a parent with FH should be tested by the time they are ten years old.

"Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a serious, often undiagnosed but relatively common condition which, if treated early, will not affect normal life expectancy for the majority of people with the condition," said NICE Deputy Chief Executive Gillian Leng.

Those found to have FH will normally be offered cholesterol-reducing statins as well as lifestyle advice on smoking, diet and exercise.