New Guidelines For Cholesterol Aim To Cut Heart Attack Risk

Jet, June 4, 2001

Cholesterol. The mere mention of it conjures up visions of blood straining to pass through arteries so clogged with fat that a deadly heart attack is imminent.

Your body produces some cholesterol--a soft, fat-like substance--the rest comes from foods such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, butter, cheese and whole milk. While you need it to stay healthy, too much "bad" cholesterol can build up in your arteries and put you at risk for heart disease, heart attack, even stroke.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), more than 1 million Americans suffer heart attacks each year. Even worse, heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women and men in the U.S. claiming about 500,000 lives annually. And high cholesterol is a primary culprit.

With such frightening statistics, high cholesterol is a problem you can't afford to ignore. But since high cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, far too many don't realize they're in danger until it's too late.

"Americans at high risk for a heart attack are too often not identified and, so, don't receive sufficiently aggressive treatment," said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant. With so many at risk for serious health problems due to high cholesterol, the government recently issued new guidelines to fight and prevent high cholesterol in adults.

In general, the revised guidelines, released by National Cholesterol Education Program, call for better identification of people at risk for a heart attack and recommend for healthy adults to get a lipoprotein profile, which measures "bad" cholesterol (the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in arteries), "good" cholesterol (helps protect your body from cholesterol buildup) and triglycerides (a fat in your blood) every five years.

The guidelines also call for more aggressive medical treatment for people with high cholesterol, such as prescribing cholesterol-lowering drugs, and more aggressive treatment for those with diabetes. Nearly 2.3 million Blacks in the U.S. have diabetes, the American Diabetes Association reports. People with Type 2 diabetes have a particularly high risk of dying from a heart attack; therefore, treating them for high cholesterol is crucial.

About 20 percent of the U.S. population has high cholesterol levels (240 mg/dL or higher) informs the American Heart Association, and about a third of U.S. adults fall in the borderline group (200 mg/dL).

If you have high or borderline-high cholesterol, experts say lifestyle changes are your first line of defense. Eating a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, exercising regularly and shedding pounds if you're overweight can lower "bad" cholesterol levels by 10 to 20 percent, doctors say.