Yasmina Kattou, edited by Alexandre Dalifard
modified to
11:06 a.m., October 28, 2022
Today, 40,000 children are said to be living with higher than normal cholesterol levels without knowing it. Hypercholesterolemia, this genetic disease, often discovered in adulthood, is not without danger. Faced with the risk of heart attacks, doctors and associations wish to make screening systematic.
Hypercholesterolemia: towards systematic screening? This bad cholesterol transmitted at birth is a genetic disorder from which 250,000 French people suffer, generally without knowing it. Only 5% of children are screened. In all, there are 40,000 children who live with too high a cholesterol level without knowing it. Familial hypercholesterolemia is a genetic disease often discovered after a first heart attack, around the age of 40. This is not without consequence, as Professor Noël Peretti, pediatrician nutritionist at the Lyon University Hospital, warns. “If we start to treat in adulthood, we already have 20 years of exposure,” he explains.
Screening to prevent 6,000 heart attacks
“It’s a bit like smoking. The number of years of exposure to cholesterol that is too high will cause heart problems. This creates real difficulties,” he says. Faced with this, the doctor recommends the establishment of a blood test before the age of three for all children. An examination that would prevent more than 6,000 heart attacks in adulthood. “Children who have been treated from the age of 8-10, compared to their 40-year-old parents, are less at risk. We are at 25% of heart attacks for parents, against 0.5% and zero deaths for children once they reach adulthood”, underlines the pediatrician.
As it is a hereditary disease, screening children would also make it possible to identify and treat carriers of the gene in the family.
What is the difference between good and bad cholesterol?
Concretely, cholesterol is a fatty substance produced by the liver. It is necessary for the proper functioning of the body because this lipid allows the production of cells. This acts in particular on the production of hormones such as testosterone, and helps dissolve fat, facilitating digestion. There are two types of cholesterol, both produced by the body. The good, called HDL, helps rid the arteries of bad fats. For its part, the bad, called LDL, attaches to the arteries and clogs them. The excess of this cholesterol can come from a diet that is too fatty. A healthy lifestyle is therefore necessary to have a good balance between good and bad cholesterol.