--- title: TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines | TIME description: New guidelines would double the number of Americans on cholesterol-lowering drugs. Here's what you need to know. canonical: https://time.com/video/1JquDqp7/ og:title: TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines og:description: New guidelines would double the number of Americans on cholesterol-lowering drugs. Here's what you need to know. og:url: https://time.com/video/1JquDqp7/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1JquDqp7/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines twitter:description: New guidelines would double the number of Americans on cholesterol-lowering drugs. Here's what you need to know. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1JquDqp7/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1JquDqp7.m3u8) (3:07)  _Published 2013-11-13. New guidelines would double the number of Americans on cholesterol-lowering drugs. Here's what you need to know._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:55 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Almost Half of Americans Have High Blood Pressure Under New Guidelines](/video/j1hFpYxT/) ### Almost Half of Americans Have High Blood Pressure Under New Guidelines [Know Right Now: New Dietary Guidelines For Americans](/video/eXDuY1tG/) ### Know Right Now: New Dietary Guidelines For Americans [Know Right Now: USDA Releases Updated Dietary Guidelines](/video/loxLYgLi/) ### Know Right Now: USDA Releases Updated Dietary Guidelines --- ## Transcript There are new guidelines for treating cholesterol. Here's what you need to know. [ MUSIC ] For years, when it comes to cholesterol, doctors have told us, know your numbers and that makes sense, since a third of Americans have high cholesterol levels and elevated cholesterol can double your risk of having a heart attack. Attack. So ideally Americans should aim for having a total cholesterol of about 200, and a bad cholesterol level, or LDL level of 100 or below. Eating a low fat diet and exercising more are the best ways to lower cholesterol, but when those don't work, taking drugs call statin's can help. These work on the liver by helping the body to produce less cholesterol. But the problem with the target numbers was that they weren't really based on solid scientific evidence. So officials at the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have decided to reshape the way doctors treat cholesterol. Instead of focusing just on the cholesterol levels They now say that physicians should prescribe statins to anyone in the following four categories. The first group include people who have had a history of heart disease, either a heart attack or other heart problem. The second group include people with bad cholesterol or LDL levels of 190 or above. The third group are for type one and type two diabetics since diabetes can increase the risk of having a heart attack. And finally the most controversial group, these include people who are otherwise healthy, have no history of heart disease but have a 7. 5 % increase risk of developing heart problems over the next ten years. And if that sounds very complicated and you have no idea what your risk is, the groups have provided a handy calculator on the American Heart Association website. The factors that you plug in include your age, sex, race, smoking history, as well as your cholesterol levels to figure out what your risk of having a heart attack might be. The purpose of the new guidelines is to make sure that everyone who can benefit from a statin is taking one. And that can include anywhere from 30 million to 70 million new people. And there are probably a few reasons behind why the heart experts decided to make these new recommendations. [ MUSIC ] The first includes that new studies have showed that statins, in addition to lowering cholesterol can also help to lower levels of inflammation. A new research shows that inflammation may be one of the key factors in aggravating the unstable plaque, that can break up and lead to heart attacks. Second, all but one of the seven statins that are currently on the market, are now available in generic form, and that means that they're relatively inexpensive. A three month supply can cost as little as ten dollars. But just because you may now qualify for a statin doesn't mean that your doctor will necessarily put you on one. You should have a discussion with him about your individual risk factors and make a decision about whether Statin is right for you [ MUSIC ]. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: The New Cholesterol Guidelines","description":"New guidelines would double the number of Americans on cholesterol-lowering drugs. Here's what you need to know.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1JquDqp7/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-11-13T23:42:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1JquDqp7.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/1JquDqp7/","duration":"PT3M7S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/1JquDqp7/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```