ISLAMABAD, April 20: A young couple in capital city is grieving because they lost their second child to congenital heart disease.

Their 11-year-old son Ahsan Hussain died in 2007 of heart attack caused by high cholesterol. Last week, his sister Areeba Amjad, 13, died of the same cause.

Both were under treatment to lower their cholesterol level since they attained the age of three.

Their father Amjad Hussain told Dawn: “I have lost my children because both of them were suffering from high cholesterol and the doctor has recommended us for a liver transplant.”

The doctors said what the couple really needed to rid of their hereditary condition was liver transplant which is not available in Pakistan.

“It's too costly to have a liver transplant from outside Pakistan,” said Mr Hussain. He said doctors had told him it was a family disease caused by inter-marriages. Mr Hussain is married to his cousin, both of them hailing from a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tribe.

“We were not aware of the disease of Ahsan till he was three-year-old and within a span of few days chickenpox developed on his arms. We consulted a pediatrician who recommended a few tests. Later, it was revealed that he had high cholesterol level,” he said.

The doctors, he said, recommended the couple to lessen the fatty food and use of oil in Ahsan's diet. And my daughter was later also diagnosed with the same disease in almost the same age of three.

“We had no option but to keep a close eye on both the kids giving them dry food with less oil till Ahsan died in 2007,” he added. Areeba, he said, also passed through the same stage till she died last week. Mr Hussain is now left with his only daughter, Tehreem, 2.

He said most of his elder family members died of heart attack and high cholesterol level.

Prof Mehmood Jamal, a leading pediatrician and executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), when approached for comments, said: “Inherited diseases are generally very serious and in case of Mr Amjad's kids, genetic disease had led to the death of his two kids.”

He said both the children were suffering from hyperlipidimia, which occurs when you have too many fatty substances, including cholesterol, in your blood.

“We have to go through their medical history before making a final opinion but it is evident from the statement of Mr Hussain that high cholesterol level of a genetic disorder in their family has led to the death of the children,” said the professor.

He said genetic diseases were common and high among siblings of those families where inter-marriages rate was high.

He said in western countries pre-marriage disease screening was a routine to save the next generation from a genetic disease.

Rof Jamal said a liver transplant unit was being established at Pims on the directive of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.