{"id":564641,"date":"2026-07-23T18:14:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564641\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:14:33","slug":"is-your-cholesterol-too-high-based-on-latest-guidelines-harvard-gazette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564641\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your cholesterol too high based on latest guidelines? \u2014 Harvard Gazette"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study by investigators from\u00a0Mass General Brigham<\/a>\u00a0finds that nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults without heart disease \u2014 and almost 4 in 5 of those who have already had a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event \u2014 have LDL, or \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol levels above the goals set by the newly released 2026 American cholesterol guidelines. Additionally, among adults without heart disease who were above target, about 3 in 4 are not receiving any cholesterol-lowering medication. The results are published in\u00a0JAMA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gap between where the country\u2019s cholesterol levels actually are and where the new guidelines say they should be is much wider than most people realize,\u201d said lead author\u00a0Shady Abohashem<\/a>, Harvard Medical School instructor in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. \u201cHeart disease remains a leading cause of death in this country, and a large share of heart attacks and strokes are preventable with medications we\u2019ve had for decades. Yet many people who could benefit from treatment aren\u2019t getting any. That is a missed opportunity at the scale of millions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026 American College of Cardiology\/American Heart Association\u00a0dyslipidemia guideline<\/a>\u00a0introduced a new cardiovascular risk calculator and lowered LDL treatment goals, reflecting evidence that has made increasingly clear that \u201clower is better\u201d for higher-risk patients. <\/p>\n

To assess how the current U.S. population measures up against these updated treatment goals, Abohashem and his colleagues analyzed national data from approximately 2,300 adults aged 30 to 79 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2021-2023, a federally administered survey representative of roughly 178 million U.S. adults.<\/p>\n

Under the updated guidelines, the recommended LDL level in the blood varies according to a person\u2019s cardiovascular risk: The higher a person\u2019s overall risk, the lower their LDL should be. For instance, for adults at low risk, an LDL of 160 mg\/dL or higher is the level at which the guidelines suggest considering treatment; for those with established heart disease and very high risk of future cardiovascular events, the target is below 55 mg\/dL.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow your LDL number, know your personal target, and if you don\u2019t know either, ask your doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shady Abohashem<\/p>\n

The researchers found substantial gaps between the new LDL goals and actual LDL levels in the population. About one-third of U.S. adults without a history of heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular events (primary prevention group) had LDL levels above the new recommended goals; among those, about 76 percent were not receiving any cholesterol-lowering medication. The gap widened sharply as risk rose: Among those at the highest cardiovascular risk, about 83 percent were above goal, and roughly half of them were not receiving any cholesterol-lowering medication.<\/p>\n

The gap looked different among adults with established heart disease (secondary prevention group). Nearly 4 of 5 were above the recommended goal, but most (roughly 62 percent) were already receiving cholesterol-lowering therapy without reaching the lower targets, pointing to a need for stronger treatment rather than starting a new one. The remaining 38 percent were receiving no treatment at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news is we know exactly what works, and the evidence behind these therapies is among the strongest in medicine,\u201d Abohashem said. \u201cBut these are really two different problems requiring two different solutions. In people without heart disease, most who are above target aren\u2019t on any cholesterol-lowering medication at all, so the first step is simply starting treatment. Whereas in people who have already had a heart attack or stroke, most are already on a statin but still aren\u2019t reaching the goal. For them, the answer isn\u2019t starting therapy; it\u2019s intensifying it. That might mean a stronger statin, adding a non-statin medication, or considering newer therapies. Recognizing that difference is essential to closing this gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falling short of LDL treatment goals is a persistent, long-standing problem, the authors note, with multiple contributing factors including limited access to newer medications, gaps in patient awareness, and structural barriers within the health system. The data were collected before the 2026 guidelines were published, so these figures establish a baseline to track progress as guidelines are adopted in practice. Future research will examine whether the gap narrows over time. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re measuring here is a starting line, not a verdict,\u201d Abohashem stated. \u201cThe new guidelines give us a clearer goal than we\u2019ve ever had. For clinicians, that means re-evaluating patients against the updated targets. And for the public, the message is simpler: Know your LDL number, know your personal target, and if you don\u2019t know either, ask your doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study by investigators from\u00a0Mass General Brigham\u00a0finds that nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults without heart disease…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,4037,61,60,89],"class_list":["post-564641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-heart-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}