Exams and Tests

High cholesterol is just one of several risk factors for coronary heart disease. Your doctor will consider your overall risk when assessing your cholesterol levels and discussing your treatment options.

Risk factors are conditions that increase your risk for developing heart disease. Some risk factors can be changed and others cannot. In general, the more risk factors you have, the greater your chance of developing coronary heart disease. You can control some risk factors, but you cannot control others.

• Risk factors you cannot control

• Age (45 years or older for men; 55 years or older for women)
  
  
• Family history of early heart disease (father or brother affected before age 55 years; mother or sister affected before age 65 years)

• Risk factors you can control

• High blood cholesterol (high total cholesterol and high LDL [bad] cholesterol)
  
  
• Low HDL (good) cholesterol
  
  
• Smoking
  
  
• High blood pressure
  
  
• Diabetes: If you have diabetes, your risk for developing heart disease is high. In order to reduce your high risk of getting heart disease, you will need to lower your cholesterol under medical supervision (in a way very similar to that of someone with known heart disease).
  
  
• Obesity/excess weight
  
  
• Physical inactivity

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High Cholesterol - Effective Treatments

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