
Family of man who died from high cholesterol condition urges others to get tested
Mike Clarke, 29, died a week after collapsing from a heart attack in 2015 during a football match - despite medical intervention where stents were fitted in his heart. Blood tests revealed Mike had high cholesterol, something his family had always struggled with but never fully understood.
Mike's brother Simon said: 'After my brother's death, we all went for tests, I was found to have high cholesterol too and received support at Leighton Hospital's lipid clinic.
"Medication helped, but there were still unanswered questions like why was this affecting so many of us?'
Simon's Consultant referred him to a new pilot service screening for Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a hereditary condition that causes extremely high cholesterol from birth and significantly increases the risk of early heart disease if left untreated.
Simon, from Winsford, underwent genetic testing through the service and a few months later received confirmation that he had FH.
'It was hard to hear. No one wants a lifelong condition but it wasn't really about me. It was about getting answers for my family,' said Simon.
'The genetic testing means I now know I have a condition that, even with diet and exercise, will always be present.
"It allows us to plan and make sure that when the children in our family reach the age where they can be tested, we take that step and don't ignore it.'
Thanks to Simon's diagnosis, cascade testing began across the family. His nephew was just four when he lost his father. Now 13, he has also tested positive for FH and has already started medication.
'He's been on treatment since he was 11 – that's two years of risk reduction already. We can't change what happened to my brother, but we can try to stop it happening again.'
Simon's story is just one of many that highlight the impact of the FH genetic testing pilot launched in 2022 across Cheshire and Merseyside. Now, the service has been commissioned on a recurrent basis by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, with support from Health Innovation North West Coast.
The service is delivered by Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and offers genetic testing to individuals with suspected FH, followed by family cascade testing for first-degree relatives - parents, siblings and children. Those diagnosed receive a personalised care plan, including lipid-lowering therapy.
Since the service was launched:
FH affects around one in 250 people, but fewer than five per cent of cases are diagnosed.
As part of the Lifespan Pathway for Lipid Management 2024, services in Cheshire and Merseyside now aim to offer a cholesterol test to all adults under 40 at least once to help close that gap.
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ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
Family of man who died from high cholesterol condition urges others to get tested
A Cheshire family say the tragic loss of a family member led to the discovery of a hidden genetic condition – and a potentially life-saving diagnosis for multiple family members. Mike Clarke, 29, died a week after collapsing from a heart attack in 2015 during a football match - despite medical intervention where stents were fitted in his heart. Blood tests revealed Mike had high cholesterol, something his family had always struggled with but never fully understood. Mike's brother Simon said: 'After my brother's death, we all went for tests, I was found to have high cholesterol too and received support at Leighton Hospital's lipid clinic. "Medication helped, but there were still unanswered questions like why was this affecting so many of us?' Simon's Consultant referred him to a new pilot service screening for Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a hereditary condition that causes extremely high cholesterol from birth and significantly increases the risk of early heart disease if left untreated. Simon, from Winsford, underwent genetic testing through the service and a few months later received confirmation that he had FH. 'It was hard to hear. No one wants a lifelong condition but it wasn't really about me. It was about getting answers for my family,' said Simon. 'The genetic testing means I now know I have a condition that, even with diet and exercise, will always be present. "It allows us to plan and make sure that when the children in our family reach the age where they can be tested, we take that step and don't ignore it.' Thanks to Simon's diagnosis, cascade testing began across the family. His nephew was just four when he lost his father. Now 13, he has also tested positive for FH and has already started medication. 'He's been on treatment since he was 11 – that's two years of risk reduction already. We can't change what happened to my brother, but we can try to stop it happening again.' Simon's story is just one of many that highlight the impact of the FH genetic testing pilot launched in 2022 across Cheshire and Merseyside. Now, the service has been commissioned on a recurrent basis by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, with support from Health Innovation North West Coast. The service is delivered by Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and offers genetic testing to individuals with suspected FH, followed by family cascade testing for first-degree relatives - parents, siblings and children. Those diagnosed receive a personalised care plan, including lipid-lowering therapy. Since the service was launched: FH affects around one in 250 people, but fewer than five per cent of cases are diagnosed. As part of the Lifespan Pathway for Lipid Management 2024, services in Cheshire and Merseyside now aim to offer a cholesterol test to all adults under 40 at least once to help close that gap.


BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
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Eight people seeking food among at least 18 killed by Israeli fire in Gaza
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BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Eight people seeking food among at least 12 killed by Israeli fire in Gaza
Hospitals in Gaza reported the killing of more than a dozen people, eight of them food-seekers, by Israeli fire on Saturday as Palestinians endured severe risks in their search for food amid airdrops and restrictions on overland aid delivery. Near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid on Saturday morning, described a panicked scene now grimly familiar. Advertisement After helping carry out three people wounded by gunshots, he said he looked around and saw many others lying on the ground bleeding. 'It's the same daily episode,' Mr Youssef said. In response to questions about several witness accounts of violence at the northernmost of the Israeli-backed American contractor's four sites, the GHF media office said 'nothing (happened) at or near our sites'. The episode came a day after US officials visited one site and the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called GHF's distribution 'an incredible feat'. Advertisement International outrage has mounted as the group's efforts to deliver aid to hunger-stricken Gaza have been marred by violence and controversy. 'We weren't close to them (the troops) and there was no threat,' Abed Salah, a man in his 30s who was among the crowds close to the GHF site near Netzarim corridor, said. 'I escaped death miraculously.' Families of hostages protest Tel Aviv, Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) The danger facing aid seekers in Gaza has compounded what international hunger experts this week called a 'worst-case scenario of famine' in the besieged enclave. Israel's near 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2.0 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to deliver food safely to starving people. Advertisement From May 27 to July 31, 859 people were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites, according to a United Nations report published on Thursday. Hundreds more have been killed along the routes of food convoys. Israel and GHF have said they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated. Health officials reported that Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Saturday, including three whose bodies were transported from the vicinity of a distribution site to a central Gaza hospital along with 36 others who were wounded. Officials said 10 of Saturday's casualties were killed by strikes in central and southern Gaza. Advertisement Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of five people killed in two separate strikes on tents sheltering displaced people. The dead include two brothers and a relative, who were killed when a strike hit their tent close to a main thoroughfare in Khan Younis. Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages protested and urged Israel's government to push harder for the release of their loved ones, including those shown in footage released by militant groups earlier this week. US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff joined them a day after visiting Gaza and a week after walking away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas's intransigence and pledging to find other ways to free hostages and make Gaza safe. Advertisement Of the 251 hostages who were abducted when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, about 20 are believed to be alive in Gaza. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza, released separate videos of individual hostages this week, triggering outrage among hostage families and Israeli society. The war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.