Cholesterol Fact Sheet

Cholesterol Screening 2011. Age-adjusted percent of adults ages 20 and older who have had their blood cholesterol checked within the last five years, by state. 68.0-71.2: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington; 71.3-73.9: Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; 74.0-76.2: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin; 76.3-78.5: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia; 78.6-84.1: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

Source: CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Cholesterol Facts

Having high blood cholesterol puts you at risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
People with high cholesterol have about twice the risk of heart disease as people with lower levels.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance. Your body needs some cholesterol, but it can build up on the walls of your arteries and lead to heart disease and stroke when you have too much in your blood.
71 million American adults (33.5%) have high low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol.
Only 1 out of every 3 adults with high LDL cholesterol has the condition under control.
Less than half of adults with high LDL cholesterol get treatment.
Lowering your cholesterol can reduce your risk of having a heart attack, needing heart bypass surgery or angioplasty, and dying of heart disease.
Exercising, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking will help you prevent high cholesterol and reduce your levels.
High cholesterol has no symptoms, so many people don’t know that their cholesterol is too high. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to check your levels. The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that adults get their cholesterol checked every five years.

Desirable Cholesterol Levels2
Total cholesterol	Less than 200 mg/dL
LDL ("bad" cholesterol)	Less than 100 mg/dL
HDL ("good" cholesterol)	60 mg/dL or higher
Triglycerides	Less than 150 mg/dL

CDC's Public Health Efforts

Million Hearts™
Million Hearts™ is a national, public-private initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Co-led by CDC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the initiative brings together communities, health care professionals, health systems, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and private-sector partners to improve care and empower Americans to make heart-healthy choices.

CDC's National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program
Since 1998, CDC has funded state health departments' efforts to reduce the number of people with heart disease or stroke. Health departments in 41 states and the District of Columbia currently receive funding. The program stresses policy and education to promote heart-healthy and stroke-free living and working conditions.

WISEWOMAN
CDC funds 21 WISEWOMAN projects in 19 states and two tribal organizations. WISEWOMAN helps women with little or no health insurance reduce their risk for heart disease, stroke, and other chronic diseases. The program assists women age 40 to 64 in improving their diet, physical activity, and other behaviors. WISEWOMAN also provides cholesterol tests and other screening.

For More Information

For more information about cholesterol, visit the following Web sites:

To learn more about Americans' cholesterol levels, see Health, United States, an annual report from CDC.