Treatment depends on your age, health history, if you smoke, and other risk factors for heart disease, such as:

• Diabetes
• Poorly controlled high blood pressure
• Family history of heart disease

The recommended values for adults are different depending on the above risk factors, but in general:

• LDL: 70-130 mg/dL (lower numbers are better)
• HDL: more than 40-60 mg/dL (high numbers are better)
• Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dL (lower numbers are better)
• Triglycerides: 10-150 mg/dL (lower numbers are better)

There are steps that everyone can take to improve their cholesterol levels, and help prevent heart disease and heart attack. Here are the most important ones:

• Eat a heart-healthy diet with plenty of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. Avoid saturated fats (found mostly in animal products) and trans-fatty acids (found in fast foods and commercially baked products). Instead, choose unsaturated fats
• Exercise regularly to help raise your HDL ("good" cholesterol)
• Get periodic health checkups and cholesterol screenings
• Lose weight if you are overweight
• Quit smoking

If lifestyle changes do not change your cholesterol levels, your doctor may recommend medication. There are several types of drugs available to help lower blood cholesterol levels, and they work in different ways. Some are better at lowering LDL cholesterol, some are good at lowering triglycerides, while others help raise HDL cholesterol.

The most commonly used and most effective drugs for treating high LDL cholesterol are called statins. You doctor will choose one of these: lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), simvastatin (Zocor), fluvastatin (Lescol), torvastatin (Lipitor), rosuvastatin (Crestor).

Other drugs that may be used include bile acid sequestering resins, cholesterol absorption inhibitors, fibrates, and nicotinic acid (niacin).

If you are diagnosed with high cholesterol, you will probably need to continue lifestyle changes and drug treatment throughout your life. Periodic monitoring of your cholesterol blood levels is necessary. Reducing high cholesterol levels will slow the progression of atherosclerosis.

Possible complications of high cholesterol include:

• Atherosclerosis
• Coronary artery disease
• Stroke
• Heart attack or death

Possible complications of high triglycerides include:

• Pancreatitis

If you have high cholesterol or other risk factors for heart disease, make appointments as recommended by your doctor.