Work With Your Doctor to Manage Your Risk Factors
High cholesterol is one of many risk factors for heart disease. A risk factor is a condition or behavior that increases your risk of a disease. It can also be a warning sign. If your cholesterol is high, it's important to talk to your doctor about lowering it. 80% of people who have had a heart attack have high cholesterol, and about every 34 seconds in the US, someone has a heart attack.
Family history is another risk factor that can also be a warning sign. If your parent, brother, or sister had heart disease at an early age, then you are considered to have a family history of early heart disease.* Be sure to let your doctor know whether anyone in your family had early heart disease. It's an important part in assessing your overall risk.
To assess your risk of heart disease, click here.
What Are Your Risk Factors?
Many factors contribute to your chances of having a heart attack or stroke. Some factors are beyond your control. But there are risk factors that you and your doctor can manage.
Risk factors you can't control
- Your age
- Family history of early heart disease*
Risk factors you can try to manage
- High LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or "bad") cholesterol
- Low HDL (high-density lipoprotein, or "good") cholesterol
- High triglycerides (a type of fat found in your blood)
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Smoking
Where Should Your Cholesterol Levels Be?
Recommended LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels depend on how many risk factors you have for heart disease or stroke. Your doctor can tell you the numbers you should be aiming for based on your risk. The chart below shows recommended LDL levels for people with different combinations of risk factors.
*Per NCEP guidelines, "early" is defined as under 55 for men and under 65 for women.
What Are Your Chances of Having a Heart Attack or Stroke?
The more risk factors you have, the higher your risk for heart disease. When you have high cholesterol, you could be at more than twice the risk of having a heart attack or stroke than someone who doesn't have high cholesterol. If you've been waiting to lower your high cholesterol, stop kidding yourself.
If you also have high blood pressure, you may be at 2.4 times the risk as someone without either. Add diabetes, and your risk could shoot up to more than 3.9 times that of the average healthy person.
The good news is that you can do something about high cholesterol and other risk factors for heart disease. Don’t kid yourself about your risk. Talk to your doctor today.
Use the tool below to see how your risk of heart disease compares to that of the average healthy male.
Remember there are other risk factors that are not included in the tool that can also put you at increased risk.
Risk shown is compared with the risk for a 45- to 49-year–old male nonsmoker, nondiabetic, with total cholesterol <160 mg/dL, HDL cholesterol of 45-49 mg/dL, untreated systolic blood pressure of 120-129 mm Hg, and a probability of developing cardiovascular disease in 10 years of 4.7%.
Cardiovascular disease as defined by the Framingham Heart Study is coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, and heart failure.
†D'Agostino RB Sr, Vasan RS, Pencina MF, et al. General cardiovascular risk profile for use in primary care: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 2008; 117(6)743-753.
LIPITOR is not for everyone. It is not for those with liver problems. And it is not for women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant.
If you take LIPITOR, tell your doctor if you feel any new muscle pain or weakness. This could be a sign of rare but serious muscle side effects. Tell your doctor about all medications you take. This may help avoid serious drug interactions. Your doctor should do blood tests to check your liver function before and during treatment and may adjust your dose.
Common side effects are diarrhea, upset stomach, muscle and joint pain, and changes in some blood tests.