High Cholesterol Treatment Options

How Do You Treat High Cholesterol?

YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR CHOLESTEROL NUMBERS!

If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, don’t stress! (Stress may only increase your cholesterol levels). You must develop a proper treatment plan – treatments for high cholesterol can not only reduce your cholesterol levels, but also directly reduce your chances of cardiovascular disease, a heart attack or stroke.

Treatments for high cholesterol should always involve lifestyle changes first and foremost. Such changes include:

• Eating healthier,
• Exercising regularly, and/or
• Losing weight.

In some patients, this will not be enough and they will need medications as well. However, be aware that medication alone is not a good approach to lowering cholesterol. If medications are necessary, make sure that these drugs are not just used as a replacement for healthier lifestyle choice, you must incorporate both.

What is the Goal of Treatment?

You might be wondering what the goal of treatment is since you don’t feel any symptoms. 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. 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 have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, how do you know whether you have to make lifestyle changes or take prescription medication or both?

Treatment Intensity

The intensity of your treatment will be tied to the degree of your heart disease risk. But whatever your degree of risk, you’ll need to follow the TLC Program. This section gives you the steps to follow. The program uses a step-by-step approach to help make it easier for you to adopt the changes. For instance, during the first 3 months of treatment, your main aim will be to lower your LDL cholesterol to its goal level through diet and physical activity. You will take in only enough calories to maintain a healthy weight, or achieve it if you’re overweight.You’ll be working with your doctor and possibly other health professionals for tips on how to forge a heart healthy partnership. Your progress will be reviewed regularly and, if needed, your treatment will be adjusted to get your LDL cholesterol down to its goal level.

• Category I, Highest Risk, your LDL goal is less than 100 mg/dL. you will need to begin the TLC diet to reduce your high risk even if your LDL is below 100 mg/dL. If your LDL is 100 or above, you will need to start drug treatment at the same time as the TLC diet. If your LDL is below 100 mg/dL, you may also need to start drug treatment together with the TLC diet if your doctor finds our risk is very high, for example if you had a recent heart attack or have both heart disease and diabetes.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.