Treatment

Your treatment plan to lower your cholesterol numbers and help optimize your heart health will be based on your overall risk for cardiovascular disease. For example, a standard risk assessment would note whether you already have atherosclerosis or have a high chance of developing it. Recommended treatments will also depend on:

• Your cholesterol levels
• Other conditions you may have
• Previous treatments tried (if applicable)
• Personal choice 

Trying to lower elevated levels of LDL often can be helped by making healthier lifestyle choices. In fact, the choices we make every day can affect our cholesterol. 

Here are four things that can make a difference:

1. Revamp the way you eat by following a heart-healthy plan such as the Mediterranean or DASH diets (these are less “diets” and more ways to adopt more healthy patterns of eating)
2. Exercise regularly 
3. Stay at a healthy weight and lose any extra pounds
4. Don’t smoke, and stay away from secondhand smoke 

Many people with elevated LDL cholesterol also need to take medication.