New treatment guidelines for high levels of blood cholesterol were released by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) in May of 2001. This is the third revision of the guidelines based on the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III).

The new guidelines place an emphasis on treatment of elevated LDL-cholesterol in individuals with more than one risk factors for primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Previously, the initial set of guidelines had focused on treating people with an LDL >130 mg/dl first with diet, then with medications if there was no response to diet. The second set of guidelines emphasized the treatment of elevated LDL's in persons with already established CHD.

Click on the arrow below to follow the step-by-step approach to the new guidelines for the detection and treatment of elevated cholesterol.