The US National Cholesterol Education Program. Adult treatment guidelines

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have begun a new National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP). Modelled on the successful High Blood Pressure Education Program of the last 15 years, the NCEP has the goals of developing education approaches on how to manage blood cholesterol in the general population and of encouraging health professionals and the public to implement these approaches widely across the United States. The NCEP treatment guidelines recommend that all adults have a blood cholesterol measurement at least once every 5 years. Patients with levels greater than 5.2 mmol/L (200 mg/dl) [confirmed by a second blood cholesterol measurement] should be advised to adopt a Step 1 fat-controlled diet. Patients with cholesterol exceeding 6.2 mmol/L (240 mg/dl) are candidates for intensive treatment with a Step 2 diet and sometimes drugs, as are those in the 5.2 to 6.2 mmol/L (200 to 240 mg/dl) range who are at especially high risk because they already have coronary artery disease and/or 2 other risk factors. However, drugs for lowering blood cholesterol should be used only when the indication has been confirmed by measuring LDL-cholesterol, and as a supplement to the dietary treatment.