Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Specialist Prof. Dr. Emre Bozkırlı said that 90 percent of patients with "familial high cholesterol" are unaware of their health status. prof. Dr. Bozkırlı pointed out that these patients are 20 times more likely to have a heart attack.
Prof. Dr. Emre Bozkırlı stated that cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in the world, explaining approximately 40 percent of all deaths. prof. Dr. Bozkırlı said that the factors that cause these diseases are unavoidable factors such as advanced age, gender and hereditary factors from the family, as well as smoking, high blood pressure or high sugar.
"GENETIC FACTOR IS EFFECTIVE ON ONLY 5 PERCENT"
Cholesterol is one of the building blocks of the body, and it naturally takes place in the normal human body in the structure of the cell wall and some hormones. Dr. Bozkırlı said, “However, excessively high levels of cholesterol in the circulation can lead to cardiovascular diseases by causing deterioration in the vascular structure. While 95 percent of the elevations in blood fats are due to reasons such as a sedentary lifestyle, excessive calorie intake, excessive consumption of refined foods, diabetes, obesity, lazy work of the thyroid gland, liver and kidney diseases, approximately 5 percent of the patients have genetic disorders in the background. gets it,” he said.
“HIGH FAMILY CHOLESTEROL CAN BE TREATED”
Prof. Dr. Bozkırlı pointed out that 'high familial cholesterol' is a hereditary but also treatable disease, which is evident with the increase in LDL levels, which is called bad cholesterol, and the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases at an early age. Stating that the root of the disease is the excessive increase in bad cholesterol levels, Prof. Dr. Bozkırlı said, “This can cause the vessels to lose their elasticity by disrupting their structure, the formation of plaques in the form of structural defects in the vessels, and the formation of occlusive clots with the rupture of these plaques over time.”
“UNDER 20 YEARS OLD It can be seen even in a"
He stated that 'high familial cholesterol' is one of the most common inherited metabolic diseases and it causes cardiovascular diseases by disrupting the vascular structure, thus causing death at an early age. Dr. Bozkırlı said: "There are two different forms of the disease, and if there is a genetic disorder originating from only one of the parents, heterozygous disease is seen, and if there is a genetic disorder originating from both parents, homozygous disease is seen. While cardiovascular diseases increase after the age of 60 in normal people, cardiovascular diseases can be seen at the age of 40 in heterozygous patients, at the age of 20 in homozygous patients, and even earlier.
“The risk of heart attack at an early age is 20 times higher”
Prof. Dr. Bozkırlı stated that the underlying cause in 30 percent of women with a heart attack under the age of 60 and 50 percent of men who had a heart attack under the age of 50 was familial high cholesterol, and that the risk of having a heart attack at an early age in patients with familial high cholesterol is approximately 20 times higher than in healthy individuals. Underlining that the disease is seen more frequently, the incidence of the heterozygous type of the disease in the society is one in every 200-500 people, and it is thought that there are approximately 150-400 thousand patients in Turkey. The incidence of the homozygous type of the disease, which can cause death much faster and at much earlier ages, is 1 in 300-400 thousand, and it is thought that there are around 200-250 patients in Turkey. Unfortunately, 90 percent of patients continue their lives unaware of the existence of the disease.”
“Symptoms Might BE IN THE EYES”
Prof. Dr. Emre Bozkırlı, "There may be no abnormality in the external appearance of the patients, and there may be white or gray rings called 'arcus cornea' around the colored part of the eye. White-yellow-orange sebaceous glands called 'xanthelasma' can be seen in the eye socket, especially in the vicinity of the nasal root. Especially in homozygous patients, masses called 'xanthomas' can be detected on the tendons of the ankle, elbow and fingers.
In addition, Prof. Dr. Steppe He stated that in cases where the disease cannot be controlled with drugs, advanced treatments such as cleaning the blood with a method called “apheresis” at certain intervals and liver transplantation can be applied.
Read: 0
