COLUMBUS – Americans’ collective cholesterol levels have continued to dip, reaching a 15-year low in 2013 and 2014, a development likely brought on in large part by an increased use of statins.
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New data out today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 11 percent of U.S. residents had high total cholesterol in that two-year period, down from nearly 13 percent in 2011-12.
In 1999-2000, more than 18 percent of Americans had high cholesterol, defined as 240 mg/dL or above.
Today’s data also includes information on HDL, or “good cholesterol.” Low HDL, which is undesirable, is defined as less than 40 mg/dL.
In 2013-14, almost 20 percent of Americans had low HDL. The data come from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is designed to monitor the health and nutritional status of Americans.
The overall drop in people 20 or older living with high cholesterol has corresponded with a drop in cardiovascular deaths, said Dr. Kavita Sharma, a cardiologist at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
Primary care doctors and heart specialists don’t focus strictly on a total cholesterol number anymore, instead assessing a variety of factors to personalize care for patients, she said.
But this data provides good evidence that cholesterol management is improving and helps give a snapshot of the nation’s health, said Sharma, clinical director of the lipid clinic at the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital.