HHS HealthBeat (November 8, 2010)

Treating high cholesterol

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.

High cholesterol can put your health at risk. While some treat it with exercise and good diet, others must use medicine to control their cholesterol levels.

Dr. Carolyn Clancy is the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ offers a guide to those medicines:

''The guide offers plain-language information about high cholesterol and how this common medical condition is treated. The guide also describes different kinds of medicines that are used to treat it, and their potential side effects.’’ (13 seconds)

Dr. Clancy says understanding this information gives you the power to discuss with your doctor which treatment is right for you.

The Treating High Cholesterol guide is available online in English and Spanish.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Nicholas Garlow.

Last revised: May 7, 2011