Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System say healthcare providers should take a more complete look at an individual’s risk factors for heart disease and stroke before prescribing cholesterol-lowering statin medications to treat high cholesterol.

The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that doctors should tailor high cholesterol treatments based on individuals’ risk factors including age, family history, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking status and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.

"We’ve been worrying too much about people’s cholesterol level and not enough about their overall risk of heart disease," said researcher Rodney Hayward, M.D. "The bottom line message is that knowing your overall heart attack risk is more important than knowing your cholesterol level."

Researchers studied data from statin trials that included Americans aged 30 to 75 with no history of heart attack. They found that the benefit of five years of tailored treatment was more efficient and prevented substantially more heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths than the currently recommended approach of prescribing cholesterol-lowering medications.

The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels should be less than 130 for most people. High risk patients should be pushed even lower—to less than 70.

Experts say lifestyle changes such as eating a healthier diet and increasing exercise can lower cholesterol without medication.

Are you being fed a BIG FAT lie?

If you’re one of the more than 20 million Americans taking cholesterol-lowering drugs on the market today… then you may be!

But with this remarkable nutrient cocktail you could:

• Lower LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Boost HDL (good) cholesterol
• Balance total cholesterol levels
• Lower triglycerides

… in as little as 30 days! To find out more about this safe and natural way to balance cholesterol levels, click here!