3 March 1997

Hello! I am a 54 year-old Caucasian woman. My father died in 1972 from a heart attack, with no previous symptoms. In 1995, I underwent a triple bypass operation and have since been told that the cause of my coronary artery disease is an extremely low HDL level. After my surgery, my HDL level was 16. It is now 21, about a year anda half later. I am taking 3000 mg of niacin and being careful about my diet and exercise. My 26 year-old daughter has just been told that her LDL/HDl ratio is 6. Mine is 7. It seems to me that because we have three generations represented with this problem, this must be a dominant gene. Can you give me any information about this condition and help me understand what has gone wrong in my system to cause such extremely low HDL levels. What kinds of research is being done about this condition, if any. Thank you very much.

Apparent Patient Location: USA