Familial combined hyperlipidemia is an inherited disease that causes high levels of cholesterol and/or triglycerides in the blood.
This condition may cause high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or both. These are each two types of fat in the body. Normally, the liver makes a low amount of cholesterol. When a person has this disease, the liver produces too much cholesterol. Other problems occur with fat metabolism, too. These problems depend on which specific abnormal gene was inherited.
This condition increases a person's risk of having clogged arteries from atherosclerosis, which may lead to a heart attack, stroke, or other complications.
This condition is inherited and occurs in about 1% of people in the US.