What if I have a family history of ischemic heart disease?

A family history of ischemic heart disease may be important in the assessment of a young individual for conditions that cause sudden cardiac death. You may be aware that 25% of the British population will die from ischemic heart disease so it’s very common for us to obtain a family history of ischemic heart disease; grandma had a heart attack at the age of 70, granddad had a heart attack at the age of 80. We would take a family history of ischemic heart disease very seriously if it occurred prematurely, by that I mean below the age of 40. So a family history of premature heart attacks or premature angina would lead us to screen individuals for familial hypercholesterolemia and that is a national practice.