On Feb 13, 2015, at 3:29 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
There is a microscopic fraction of humans that have a distinct genetic problem that causes incredibly high cholesterol levels. One of my graduate students at the University of Rochester in the early 1980's was such a person, and he died in his 30's of heart disease. There is nothing to be learned from these people that in any way applies to the rest of the population as a whole.
Unfortunately, this runs in my family. Fortunately, not my direct ancestors. (But one great-aunt's husband, his two sons, and a daughter -- all of whom I was very fond of -- each died by age 45. One son had two children, of whom the one has the disorder . . . but nowadays it can be diagnosed and treated with medicines, and he's doing fine.) Hmm, maybe the fraction is not so microscopic after all, just a lot of undiagnosed people? --Dan