--- title: High Cholesterol Rate on the Decline in the U.S., CDC Says description: The percentage of U.S. adults with high cholesterol dropped to 11% in 2013-2014 following a decade of continuous decline canonical: https://time.com/4130856/high-cholesterol-us-decline/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-01T17:28:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:59:59.295Z article:section: Health og:title: High Cholesterol Rate Continues Decline in the U.S. og:description: The rates has been on the decline over the past decade og:url: https://time.com/4130856/high-cholesterol-us-decline/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta67b935b28cb8961/69887348ab6d7785426a75de/blood-pressure.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: 547016335 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: High Cholesterol Rate Continues Decline in the U.S. twitter:description: The rates has been on the decline over the past decade twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta67b935b28cb8961/69887348ab6d7785426a75de/blood-pressure.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # High Cholesterol Rate Continues Decline in the U.S. > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=b2a3b05f-0c1c-411b-b6d2-d7a383e49b2a&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2015 5:28 PM UTC  Doctor taking patients blood pressure in examination room Doctor taking patients blood pressure in examination room Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2015 5:28 PM UTC The percentage of U.S. adults with high cholesterol dropped to 11% in 2013-2014 following a decade of continuous decline, according to a report released Tuesday. More than 18% of Americans over the age of 20 had high cholesterol during the 1999-2000 survey. The decline, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), comes as Americans have increasingly taken medication like statins to stem high cholesterol. [Changes](http://time.com/120958/who-really-needs-to-take-a-statin/) to guidelines for prescribing statins by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology in 2013 led to a dramatic expansion of who is prescribed the drug. High cholesterol, which can also be reduced through lifestyle changes like a different diet and increased exercise, contributes to heart disease. **Read More:** [Who Really Needs To Take a Statin?](http://time.com/120958/who-really-needs-to-take-a-statin/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4130856/high-cholesterol-us-decline/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4130856/high-cholesterol-us-decline/"},"headline":"High Cholesterol Rate Continues Decline in the U.S.","datePublished":"2015-12-01T17:28:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:59:59.295Z","description":"The rates has been on the decline over the past decade","url":"https://time.com/4130856/high-cholesterol-us-decline/","keywords":["Heart Disease"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta67b935b28cb8961/69887348ab6d7785426a75de/blood-pressure.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta67b935b28cb8961/69887348ab6d7785426a75de/blood-pressure.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"547016335","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/heart-disease/","name":"Heart Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4130856/high-cholesterol-us-decline/","name":"High Cholesterol Rate Continues Decline in the U.S."}}]}] ```