High Cholesterol Risk Factors

If your cholesterol is high, your doctor most likely will suggest that you try to lower it by adopting a heart-healthy diet, losing weight, exercising regularly, and quitting smoking. If those steps don’t work, or if you have the risk factors below, drugs may be prescribed.

• Age: You’re a man who is 45 or older, or a woman 55 or older.
• Family history: You have a father, brother, or son who has had heart disease before age 55, or a mother, sister, or daughter with heart disease before age 65.
• Smoking: You smoke or are exposed daily to secondhand smoke.
• High blood pressure: Your blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg or higher.
• HDL cholesterol: Your HDL blood cholesterol is less than 40 mg/dL.
• Diabetes: Your fasting blood glucose is 126 mg/dL or higher.

Source: American Heart Association