Treat and Manage Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Key points

  • If you have familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), you will need to take cholesterol-lowering medicines such as statins to control your cholesterol levels.
  • A healthy lifestyle and physical activity are important but will not be enough to lower your cholesterol to a healthy level.
  • You might need to take more than one type of cholesterol-lowering medicine.
a tablet sleeve labeled STATIN and a stethoscope

Treatment overview

If you have familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), having a healthy lifestyle and being physically active are important, but often are not enough to lower your cholesterol to a healthy level. You will need to take cholesterol-lowering medicine to control your cholesterol levels. In most cases, you will need to take more than one type of cholesterol-lowering medicine to lower your LDL cholesterol to a healthy level.

Treatment options

The most commonly prescribed medicines are statins. For children diagnosed with FH, statin therapy in childhood may be required, often starting by age 8-10.

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Treat Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) to Prevent Heart Disease - FH is high risk and not rare - 1 in 250 people have FH and Up to 22x increased risk of CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, if untreated Despite known high cholesterol, many undiagnosed, undertreated - More than 80% know they have HIGH CHOLESTEROL, but most don’t know they have FH - only 52% use any statins - only 16% use high intensity statins - If you have FH: ASK your healthcare provider about cholesterol-lowering medicines, TAKE YOUR MEDICINE as directed, Know that HEALTHY LIFESTYLE is important but often NOT ENOUGH, CHECK your cholesterol regularly, TALK to your FAMILY about getting tested for FH. Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Study: 1999-2014 Bucholz et al. Circulation 2018
Treat familiar hypercholesterolemia (FH) to prevent heart disease.

Other treatments for FH include

If you have homozygous FH, you might need additional treatments to lower your LDL cholesterol, including

These options all have risks and benefits and should be discussed with your healthcare provider or lipid specialist to find out which ones are best for you.

Prevention

If you or a family member have FH or high LDL cholesterol, it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle along with taking your medicine. Making healthy lifestyle changes for your family can benefit your children who may be at risk for FH and promote healthy habits that they will continue as adults. The following are steps that you can take as a family:

Learn more about what you can do to reduce your risk of getting heart disease.

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Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP); Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention