Chances are
that you're visiting this web site because you or someone you know has
heart disease or is at high risk for developing it and you want to find
out more about treatment options. Some of the conditions that put you at
high risk for heart disease include:
|
Diabetes |
|
A combination of risk factors that makes your
chances of developing heart disease more than 20 percent in the next 10
years. To find your risk, go to the online 10 year risk calculator. |
|
Atherosclerosis in the arteries of your legs |
|
Plaque or narrowing in your carotid (neck)
arteries that has caused a transient ischemic attack (TIA or "mini
stroke") or a stroke |
|
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (a bulge in the main
artery of the body) |
There are some important things for you to know. The good news is that
by lowering your blood cholesterol, you can reduce your risk of having
a heart attack or other complications of heart disease.
The four steps
you can take to lower your blood cholesterol:
|
Follow the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Diet
(low saturated fat, low cholesterol). |
|
Be more physically
active. |
|
Lose weight if you are
overweight. |
|
Take cholesterol
lowering medication if prescribed by your doctor. |
Your LDL Level
Select your
LDL cholesterol level for an idea of what type of
treatment may be prescribed for you (Click on
the 'Go' button after you've made your choice.)
|
Your doctor
will prescribe a personalized treatment plan according to your
LDL-cholesterol level, which may include cholesterol lowering
medication.
Even if your
doctor starts you on a cholesterol-lowering drug, it is still
important for you to adopt heart-healthy life habits. These will help
to bring a bigger drop in your cholesterol level, and will reduce your
risk for future CHD in other ways as well.
|
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) |
Cholesterol
Lowering Medicines |
The
Lifestyle section will teach you how to lower your blood
cholesterol and reduce your chance of heart attack by following a
low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet (TLC Diet) and how to
be more physically active. |
For many
patients it is necessary to combine cholesterol lowering
medications with changes in life habits to get enough of a
reduction in cholesterol . Your doctor can help to decide which
combination of cholesterol-lowering activities is right for you.
This section outlines the medications that are available. |
Did you know?
check out the Health Tip of the Month
for the answer or check out the
Cholesterol Quiz to see
how much you know about reducing blood cholesterol. You can also
Test Your Heart Disease IQ and see
how well you do!
Go
to the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Section
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