Primary Care
Believe in Better Health Toolkit
High Blood Cholesterol: Treating High Cholesterol
Treating High Cholesterol
The main goal of cholesterol- lowering treatment is
to lower your LDL level enough to reduce your risk of
developing heart disease or having a heart attack. The
higher your risk, the lower your LDL goal will be. To
find your LDL goal, see the box for your risk category
below. There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol:
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)- includes a cholesterol-lowering
diet (called the TLC diet),
physical activity, and weight management. TLC is for anyone whose LDL is above
goal.
Drug Treatment- if cholesterol-lowering drugs are needed,
they are used together with TLC treatment to help lower
your LDL.
If you are in...
Category I - Highest Risk
your LDL goal is less than 100 mg/dL. If your
LDL is 100 or above, you will need to begin the
TLC diet. If your LDL is 130 or higher, you will
need to start drug treatment at the same time
as the TLC diet. If your LDL is 100 to 129, you
may also need to start drug treatment together
with the TLC diet. Even if your LDL is below
100, you should follow the TLC diet on your own
to keep your LDL as low as possible.
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Category II - Next Highest
Risk
your LDL goal is less than 130 mg/dL. If your
LDL is 130 mg/dL or above, you will need to begin
treatment with the TLC diet. If your LDL is 130
mg/dL or more after 3 months on the TLC diet,
you may need drug treatment along with the TLC
diet. If your LDL is less than 130 mg/dL, you
will need to follow the heart-healthy diet for
all Americans, which allows a little more saturated
fat and cholesterol than the TLC diet.
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Category III - Moderate Risk
your LDL goal is less than 130 mg/dL. If your
LDL is 130 mg/dL or above, you will need to begin
the TLC diet. If your LDL is 160 mg/dL or more
after you have tried the TLC diet for 3 months,
you may need drug treatment along with the TLC
diet. If your LDL is less than 130 mg/dL, you
will need to follow the heart-healthy diet for
all Americans.
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Category IV - Low-to-Moderate
Risk
your LDL goal is less than 160 mg/dL. If your
LDL is 160 mg/dL or above, you will need to begin
the TLC diet. If your LDL is still 160 mg/dL
or more after 3 months on the TLC diet, you may
need drug treatment along with the TLC diet to
lower your LDL, especially if your LDL is 190
mg/dL or more. If your LDL is less than 160 mg/dL,
you will need to follow the heart-healthy diet
for all Americans.
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* To reduce your risk for heart disease or keep it low,
it is very important to control any other risk factors
you may have such as high blood pressure and smoking.
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Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute
The
University of Rochester Medical Center’s
commitment to help Rochester
become America’s healthiest community
by 2020
(complete index of Believe
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