Setting Your Cholesterol Goals

Creating your plan involves careful consideration.

Assess Your Risk

How much you need to bring your cholesterol down depends on your coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors.

In a nutshell, the greater your risk for a heart attack or stroke -- in other words, the more risk factors you have -- the lower your ideal cholesterol level.

If you have high cholesterol, the main goal is to lower your LDL (low-density lipoprotein). Why, you might ask, is this true when your ratios of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and LDL to total cholesterol are what count the most? First, because it's much easier to lower LDL than raise HDL. Few drugs or supplements reliably raise HDL (niacin is probably the best). Intense physical activity is effective, but few people are willing to work that hard. Alcohol also moves the needle, but of course the "dose" is limited by alcohol's inherent dangers. Lowering LDL is also the most direct way to slow plaque buildup, since LDL plays the most direct role in forming the stuff.

Perhaps the best way to think about your cholesterol goal is in terms of improving your HDL/LDL ratio. This can be done by raising HDL, lowering LDL, or both. And since it's easier to reduce LDL, that's where the focus falls.

To figure out how low your LDL target should be, you should assess your heart disease risk. Take into consideration factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, family history, and age. Remember, the greater your risk, the lower your cholesterol target should be.

• Healthy Heart
• Cholesterol
• • Heart Disease

• Ready, Set, Lower Cholesterol!
• Advice to help you prepare for a challenging task.
• 
• The Fringe Benefits of Controlling Cholesterol
• The road to a healthy heart has a wide range of potential benefits.
• 
• Are You a Cholesterol Nonresponder?
• When lifestyle changes are not enough to bring the numbers down.
• 
• The Live It Down Plan
• Actually live your cholesterol down by modifying your daily routine.
• 
• Heart Disease Risk Factors You Can Change
• Reduce the possibility of a heart attack with lifestyle modifications.
• 

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