Cholesterol mutation in spotlight

"Heart experts have called for a family screening program to detect more of the estimated 40,000 Australians with a genetic disorder that causes them to suffer heart attacks and strokes in early adulthood - up to 40 years earlier than normally expected. The condition, familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), is caused by a gene mutation that prevents the liver clearing cholesterol from the blood. The result is that cholesterol levels can be more than double the level seen in normal people. The Australian