Banach M, et al. - Researchers used data from the US National Health and Education National Surveys (NHANES, 1999–2002) to determine the link between telomere length (TL), a biological index of ageing, and familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), the most potent inherited cause of premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Participants were individuals, who had TL measurements (with quantitative polymerase chain reaction method) and a phenotypic diagnosis of FH based on the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) criteria. According to initial findings, there was a link between TL and FH presence; 12% less chance of having FH was observed in subjects with longer TL (highest quartile) vs those with TL in the lowest quartile. In FH vs healthy subjects, shorter TL was seen, after adjusting for age, sex, race, and body mass index.