Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is essential for proper body functioning. But elevated blood levels of cholesterol increase the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks.
The government's National Cholesterol Education Program has estimated that at least 36 million people--about two thirds of them age 45 or older--have blood cholesterol levels high enough to merit treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs. Yet only 12 to 15 million of them are currently taking such medication, and many (probably most) are taking too small a dose. The landmark Heart Protection Study, published in the Lancet in 2002, concluded that cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins can produce substantial benefits in a much wider range of high-risk people than had been previously thought--including people over age 70, women, and anyone with vascular disease or diabetes, regardless of whether they have high cholesterol levels.
The following pages answer key questions about cholesterol and how to control it:
- What is cholesterol?
- Why are blood levels of cholesterol important to heart health?
- What other fats in the blood are important to heart health?
- Should you have your cholesterol levels tested?
- Are your cholesterol levels too high?
- What lifestyle measures help control cholesterol?
- What medicines help control cholesterol?
