The new cholesterol guidelines expand recommendations for who should take statins, the medications that reduce unhealthy cholesterol. According to the New York Times, the changes that come with the new cholesterol guidelines are significant.
For one thing, the new cholesterol guidelines move away from the old guidelines, which date to 2004, which recommended trying to achieve specific cholesterol numbers.
Under the new cholesterol guidelines, the aim is more broad — taking medications to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke, especially for people who have unsuccessfully tried lifestyle efforts to reduce cholesterol levels. This is largely because the potentially serious side effects of statin medications could outweigh their cholesterol-reducing benefits.
The exception under these cholesterol guidelines is for people whose harmful LDL cholesterol is so high that side effects from medication are worth the risks to reduce that LDL cholesterol.
Another major difference with these cholesterol guidelines is encouraging people to be aware of their own risk of heart disease and stroke as a result of elevated cholesterol levels. An online CV Risk Calculator developed by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology can help you determine your risk.
According to a CNN article about the new cholesterol guidelines, people should ask themselves four main questions:
Do you have heart disease?
Do you have either type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes?
Do you have an LDL cholesterol level more than 190?
Is your 10-year risk of a heart attack greater than 7.5 percent?
Answering yes to any of these questions means you should take a statin to reduce cholesterol, according to the new cholesterol guidelines.
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