Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
National Cholesterol Education Month --- September 2005
High blood cholesterol is a modifiable risk factor for heart disease. To increase awareness of the importance of monitoring blood cholesterol and maintaining healthy levels, the National Cholesterol Education Program sponsors National Cholesterol Education Month each September.
Persons aged >20 years should have a complete fasting lipid profile (total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL], high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL], and
triglycerides) at least once every 5 years
(1). LDL levels of <100 mg/dL are considered
optimal(1). Atherogenesis is more likely to occur when LDL levels are borderline high (130--159 mg/dL), and risk
for heart disease increases at levels that are
>160 mg/dL. Total cholesterol should be below 200 mg/dL; total cholesterol of
200--239 mg/dL is borderline high, and total cholesterol exceeding 240 mg/dL is high. HDL cholesterol of <40 mg/dL is unfavorable (1).
Blood cholesterol can be reduced through lifestyle changes such as dietary improvement, physical activity, weight
control, drug therapy, or a combination of these measures
(1). Primary prevention should be targeted to persons with multiple
risk factors (e.g., hypertension and family history of heart disease). During September, CDC-funded state heart-disease and stroke-prevention programs will work to increase awareness of high blood cholesterol and its relation to heart disease.
Additional information is available at
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol,
http:// www.americanheart.org/cld, and
http://www.cdc.gov/cvh.
References
National Cholesterol Education Program. Executive summary of the third report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (ATP III). JAMA 2001; 285:2486--97.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text
into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or
the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800.
Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
mmwrq@cdc.gov.
