The main treatments for high cholesterol are dietary changes, lifestyle changes and cholesterol-lowering medications. Although your doctor may begin by asking you to alter your diet and lifestyle habits, this might not be effective enough in the long run, making the addition of medication necessary. However, drugs are not a miracle cure, and you must still do your part to achieve healthy cholesterol levels.
Risk Factors
Risk factors for high cholesterol play a large role in determining the intensity of your treatment; the more risk factors you have, the higher your risk for developing heart disease. Some risk factors you can control, such as obesity, lack of physical activity and smoking. Improper management of health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes also contribute. Risk factors out of your control include age, family history of heart disease and inherited high cholesterol -- a condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia.
Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Familial hypercholesterolemia is a condition resulting from a mutated, or abnormal gene, responsible for clearing excess low-density lipoprotein, "bad" cholesterol, from the blood. If one parent carries this gene, you have a 50 percent chance of inheriting this condition, placing you at risk for high LDL cholesterol levels from birth. This, in turn, increases your risk having a heart attack or stroke at an early age. For men, this can occur in their 40s or 50s, and for women, their 50s or 60s, explains the National Human Genome Research Institute. Due to the unusually high levels of LDL, dietary changes alone are not enough to reach healthy cholesterol levels. Therefore, cholesterol-lowering medications are also a necessity.
The TLC Diet
The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, or TLC diet, is perhaps the most effective for lowering cholesterol. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute explains it is a progressive plan; the first six weeks focus on reducing your weight, if necessary, increasing your intake of fiber-rich foods, increasing your level of physical activity and reducing your intake of saturated fats -- no more than 7 percent of your daily calories. You must also keep your cholesterol intake to 200 mg/dL per day or lower. During the following six weeks you increase your fiber intake, continue your saturated fat reduction and add plant sterols and stanols. These natural substances absorb cholesterol, lowering LDL cholesterol by 5 to 15 percent within six weeks.
Diet and Drugs
The more risk factors you have, the more difficult it may be to lower your cholesterol with diet alone. Once you complete your two six-week sessions of the TLC diet, your doctor will check your LDL levels and decide if drug treatment is necessary in combination with your dietary changes. Continuing to follow the TLC diet while taking medication ensures you take the lowest dose of medication possible; this may prevent unpleasant side effects. In addition, the diet helps control some of the risk factors for heart disease associated with high cholesterol: high, blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. This is something cholesterol-lowering medications are unable to do, explains the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
