ProLipid

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has published definitions regarding high and normal cholesterol values. These were endorsed by the American Heart Association and other health organizations and are displayed in the table below.

The following is the distribution of blood cholesterol values in the population of the United States.

The data is taken from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted from 1988 to 1994. It can be found in the "Third Report of the Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (ATP III Final Report)", Appendix III-A, which is downloadable from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

Target Cholesterol Levels: It All Depends On Your Risk Category

Persons with an elevated heart attack risk should lower their LDL ("bad") cholesterol. The National Cholesterol Education Program defines three "Risk Categories" with different LDL cholesterol targets for each:

The Joint British Societies also issue cholesterol recommendations, but only for individuals at high cardiovascular risk. This includes anyone with one or more of the following:

• Atheroscleriotic disease such as:
  • Coronary heart disease (CHD)
  • Stroke
  • Peripheral arterial disease (PAD)
• Diabetes mellitus
• Cardiovascular disease risk of 20% or higher over 10 years (can be determined by a risk calculator).

The latest set of guidelines released in 2005 recommend a total cholesterol level of less than 4.0 mmol/L (156 mg/dL) and LDL cholesterol of less than 2.0 mmol/L (78 mg/dL).

These figures are lower than the 1998 guidelines, when total cholesterol of less than 5.0 mmol/L (195 mg/dL) and LDL cholesterol of less than 3.0 mmol/L (117 mg/dL) was recommended.

Triglyceride targets are not explicitly set, although triglyceride levels greater than 1.7 mmol/L (150 mg/mL) are considered high.

The Joint British Societies, including the British Cardiac Society, British Hypertension Society, Diabetes UK, HEART UK, Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, and The Stroke Association, have published their guidelines here (free registration required).