UM SOM: Department of Endocrinology

Amish Family Calcification Study (AFCS)

Many thanks to the more than 1,000 subjects who have participated in the Amish Family Calcification Study. We have started looking at DNA from blood samples of study subjects and have just identified a variant in a gene that is related to having high levels of LDL (‘bad”) cholesterol levels. About 12% of Amish have this high cholesterol gene variant. Those with the variant not only have higher levels of LDL-cholesterol, but they also have higher levels of calcium in the blood vessels of the heart. We will soon assess whether or not carriers of this variant might benefit from drug therapy. We are also working on making genetic testing for this variant available to the Amish community.

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