Familial hypercholesterolemia: a challenge of diagnosis and therapy.

People with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) have dramatically high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), which can lead to accelerated atherosclerosis and, if untreated, early cardiovascular death. Although the heterozygous form of FH is often unrecognized, detecting it early can enable risk reduction before premature coronary heart disease occurs.