The biggest threat to your heart is invisible.
Cholesterol, a term that doesn’t mean anything to you until it does, has no true visual or physical indicators. You can look fit, exercise frequently and still have high cholesterol without realizing it. The only way to really know is to test your lipids by way of your blood.
Now, updated guidance from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association is changing when clinicians begin screening for high cholesterol … and how they manage it. This is the first time the guidance has been updated since 2018.
The new recommendation? Physicians should begin earlier, and tailor their approach to the patient. For example, folks with familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition that causes high levels of the “bad” cholesterol, should begin screening around age 9. If you have preexisting health conditions, it’s better to test in your 20s than in your 30s. As part of a risk calculator, the guidance also recommends taking your blood pressure and kidney function into account.
Some things have stayed the same — like lowering your low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which you might know as LDL, or the aforementioned “bad cholesterol.” One in four adults across the U.S. have elevated levels of the less-than-stellar lipid. Experts recommend a one-time test of Lp(a), which is linked to inherited risk, and lets you know if you might have a tendency toward higher levels.
Ultimately, lowering your LDL lessens your chances of heart attacks and strokes. And, when you lower this lipid as a young adult, your vascular and heart health are set up for success for years to come.