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Did you know that something about your gaze can signal a higher cardiovascular risk and possibly a genetic disease? We’ll explain it to you.
Familial hypercholesterolemia is a disease characterized by an elevation of LDL-Cholesterol or “bad cholesterol” from birth. If it is known for its possible complications (narrowing of the arteries, myocardial infarction, etc.), we know less that it is likely to create a white ring around the iris.
What is familial hypercholesterolemia?
Familial hypercholesterolemia is a hereditary disease, which manifests itself by the early onset of cardiovascular disorders: if left untreated, the risk of coronary pathology is multiplied by 25 and complications most often occur from the age of 30.
Far from being harmless, it affects 120,000 to 150,000 French people and in its heterozygous version (the least serious form), it is responsible for sudden deaths, occurring around the age of 50.
“It is a hereditary family disease whose origin is genetic. specifies the association Anhet.fr. There must therefore be one of the parents who presents the same anomaly. “It is also an invisible illness; more than 90% of people affected in France are currently undiagnosed. In the absence of screening and early treatment, the risk of cardiovascular accident is increased from a very young age.“
Two forms of the disease can be distinguished, the association further details.
- A homozygous form. “HASassociated at a rate of LDL-Cholesterol 6 to 8 times higher than normal (between 6 and 12 g/l)“. This rare form affects 1 person in 1,000,000, or around 65 people in France;
- A heterozygous form. “Associated with an LDL-Cholesterol level at least twice higher than normal (between 1.9 g/l and 4 g/l)”. One person in 500 is affected by this form, or nearly 130,000 people in France.
Abnormally high levels of LDL-Cholesterol which reflect its poor elimination in the blood circulation… and lead to blocked arteries.
Various symptoms… including some in the eyes
Surprising, but true: familial hypercholesterolemia causes a wide variety of symptoms such as hardening of the arteries, swelling in the joints of the fingers, yellowish plaques or nodules on the skin (cutaneous xanthomas)… but also small, slightly raised yellowish plaques under the skin of the eyelids (Xanthelasmas) and corneal arches, which can be recognized by their circular arc shape whitish around the iris.
These yellowish deposits at the inner corner of the eye or on the eyelid, also called xanthelasma, constitute a predictive factor of cardiovascular risk according to a study published in 2011. The researchers concluded that whatever the age and sex, the risk heart attack, cardiovascular disease and death within 10 years was higher in people with xanthelasma. Furthermore, this excess risk was independent of other known cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, obesity, hypertension and even hypercholesterolemia. Men aged 70 to 79 with yellowish deposits at the corner of the eye thus had a 12% higher risk compared to those of the same age without xanthelasma. For women, the excess risk was 8%.
If you recognize any of these symptoms, contact your doctor. Only he can make the diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia.