New Guidelines for Bad Cholesterol Management

The U.S. heart panel has come up with new guidelines for the drug statin prescribed for lowering bad cholesterol in people at high risk of cardio vascular diseases. The new guidelines would almost double the number of statin drug consumers in the United States.

Two U.S. medical organizations, American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACC), issued the guidelines  Tuesday, to be followed by medics and physicians. Bad cholesterol or LDL increases the risks of cardiovascular diseases and heart strokes by blocking the artery walls. Patients with LDL over 100 are recommended to have statins, which would help in cutting down atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk. The new guidelines do not set any numerical target for lowering cholesterol.

"This guideline represents a departure from previous guidelines because it doesn't focus on specific target levels of (LDL), or bad cholesterol, although the definition of optimal LDL cholesterol has not changed," Dr. Neil Stone, lead author of the cholesterol report, according to Reuters.

The new 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines were formed in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and various other societies. These guidelines were reviewed by 23 expert reviewers and representative of federal agencies.

People are recommended to consume statins as they are more effective in cutting down cholesterol levels compared to the non-statin drugs, Dr. Stone explained.

Four groups benefit from higher intensity statin treatment - patients with known heart diseases; those with an LDL level of 190 or higher; patients with type 2 diabetes between the ages of 40 and 75; those between 40 and 75 deemed to have a 10-year higher risk of developing heart disease based on new risk assessment formulas, according to Reuters.

Around 33 million American adults comprising of 22 percent women and 44 percent men will need the drugs, according to the guidelines set by the panel, reports BBC. Presently, 15 percent adults are advised to consume the drugs.

It is also guesstimated that majority of the adults who need to take these statin drugs based on the   guidelines would consist primarily of African-Americas and women who are more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases.

The experts also advice people to live a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy and exercising, the known remedies to keep ailments at bay.