GPs have a critical role in assessing and helping their patients to reduce cardiovascular risk, including high cholesterol and FH, especially those who don’t yet have heart disease.

It’s exciting that Medicare now rebates pathology companies for GP-requested “cascade” DNA testing for immediate relatives of people diagnosed with FH. Relatives of people diagnosed with FH at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) have embraced the opportunity to see their GP to arrange testing and GPs have welcomed RPH staff’s communication and support, leading to many more diagnoses being confirmed and managed by GPs without needing referral elsewhere.

Although for now GPs still need to refer those who don’t have an immediate relative with FH to other specialists to request Medicare-rebated DNA testing, we hope Medicare will fund GP-requested tests for people with high cholesterol suggestive of FH in the future, which would greatly improve the detection and earlier treatment of this common and treatable condition.

If you’d like to discuss the possibility of FH with your GP, it’s wise to request a longer appointment when booking. Please bring in details of who in your family has FH (and if so where the test was done), high cholesterol or heart disease, and at what age(s). If you don’t have a first-degree relative with FH, your GP may use the Dutch Lipid Clinical Network Score (DLCNS) Online Calculator https://www.athero.org.au/fh/calculator/ to help gauge the likelihood of FH.

If you are diagnosed with FH, your GP can prescribe effective treatment and you may also be eligible for a Chronic Condition Management Plan. GPs will refer people whose cholesterol isn’t reaching targets or have more complex FH to Cardiometabolic Services.