Are cardiovascular diseases hereditary?
Old family stories can suddenly become eerily topical. For example, your father’s eldest brother Herman, who suddenly died ‘at his heart’ when he was 36. Your father has not aged. And now the doctor says that your cholesterol is on the high side and your wife thinks you are overweight. “Think of your heart, it runs in the family.” When should you be concerned?
This only concerns disorders that are caused by serious vascular problems of the heart and brain. Are these conditions hereditary? Partially. People with a hereditary predisposition to bad blood vessels are more likely to have serious vascular problems. But that chance is not 100 percent and lifestyle factors are just as important.
Cardiovascular disease in the family
Vascular problems are common, so the chances of them running in your family are always present. If your father, mother, brother or sister has developed a cardiovascular disease before the age of 60, hereditary predisposition may play a role. The chance that you will also get it is only higher than average if your father or brother developed heart disease before the age of 55 or your mother or sister before her 65th birthday. And if they had a heart attack before that age, your chance of that is about 2.5 times higher.
There are only tests for a few genes that alone can have a large effect on risk, such as the gene for the hereditary metabolic disorder Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH). If you appear to have an increased risk, you can adjust your lifestyle. Among other things, by not smoking and exercising enough.
High cholesterol at a young age
Some people have very high cholesterol levels at a young age. This has nothing to do with unhealthy eating habits, but with the hereditary metabolic disorder Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH). This condition increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and, as a result, dementia, for example.
Research shows that there are probably about 70,000 people with FH in the Netherlands (1 in 250 people). Of them, 40,000 have not yet been traced. They are therefore not yet treated and run the risk of dying young. DNA testing for FH makes sense if the total cholesterol is higher than 8 mmol/l and/or if several family members developed a cardiovascular disease before their 65th birthday. Or if your father, mother, brother, sister or child developed a heart condition at a young age or died of sudden cardiac arrest.
People with FH are prescribed a diet and medications. A healthy lifestyle (no smoking, lots of exercise) is very important.
Sources):
- Plus Magazine
