MedWire News: Children should have their cholesterol levels checked in early life to help reduce their risk of developing heart disease in the future, say UK researchers.

Dr David Wald and colleagues from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry explain that around two in every 1000 people inherit a condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia, in which they develop very high levels of 'bad' cholesterol.

People with high cholesterol levels have a significantly greater risk of dying from heart disease than those with normal cholesterol levels. Cholesterol-lowering treatment can significantly reduce the risk of death, but doctors are unsure how best to screen people for hypercholesterolaemia, says the team.

To investigate, the researchers examined data from 13 studies involving 1907 people with hypercholesterolaemia and more than 16,000 without the condition.

Analysis revealed that hypercholesterolaemia screening in the form of a simple blood test was most effective if carried out between the ages of 1 and 9 years. Screening at this age identified 88% of people with hypercholesterolaemia.

Based on their findings, Dr Wald and team suggest that children could be screened for hypercholesterolaemia when they visit their doctor for routine vaccinations at the age of 15 months.

If a child is identified with hypercholesterolaemia, then both parents could also be screened for the condition, say the researchers. Parents with hypercholesterolaemia could then be immediately treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, while treatment for children with the condition could be delayed until early adulthood.

"Our strategy is a screening approach that offers a simple means of screening children, their parents, and then their family members for familial hypercholesterolaemia," Dr Wald and colleagues conclude in an advance online publication by the British Medical Journal.

They add: "A potential strength of screening at the time of childhood immunisation is that it would take place at a time when parents are receptive to the possibility of preventing disease in their child and therefore may be receptive to a family based strategy to prevent the consequences of the same disease within the family as a whole."

Commenting on the study, June Davison, from the British Heart Foundation, said: "We know that there are lots of undiagnosed cases of familial hypercholesterolaemia in the UK. It's estimated that only around 10% of the predicted 110,000 people with FH are currently identified.

"All approaches [to hypercholesterolaemia screening] should be considered, because - once identified - the condition can be treated and the consequences may be prevented."