High Cholesterol Risk: An Overview
In general, the higher your LDL level (and the more risk factors you have), the greater your chances of developing
heart disease or having a heart attack. (A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease.) Some people are at a high risk for heart attack because they already have
heart disease. Other people are at high risk for developing heart disease because they have
diabetes or a combination of
risk factors for heart disease.
Determining Your High Cholesterol Risk
Check the following list to see how many of the risk factors you have for heart disease.
These are risk factors that affect your LDL goal:
- Cigarette smoking
- High blood pressure (140/90 mmHg or higher), or if you are on blood pressure medicine
- High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL)
- Family history of early heart disease (heart disease in father or brother before age 55; heart disease in mother or sister before age 65)
- Age (men 45 years or older; women 55 years or older).
If you have two or more of these risk factors for heart disease, see
Heart Disease Risk to calculate your risk score. A risk score refers to the chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years, given as a percentage.
Use your medical history, number of risk factors, and risk score to determine your risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack according to the following table.
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If You Have
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You Are in Category
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And Your LDL Goal Is
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Heart disease, diabetes, or a risk score higher than 20%
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I. Highest risk
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Less than 100 mg/dL
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Two or more risk factors and a risk score 10%–20%
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II. Next highest risk
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Less than 130 mg/dL
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Two or more risk factors and a risk score lower than 10%
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III. Moderate risk
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Less than 130 mg/dL
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One or no risk factors
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IV. Low to moderate risk
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Less than 160 mg/dL
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