A new report displays the percentage of American adults with high LDL cholesterol, the one that clogs the arteries, reduced by almost one-third between 1999 and 2006.
 
Very many people who have high levels of LDL cholesterol are ignorant about it, said study author Dr. Elena V. Kuklina, an epidemiologist and senior service fellow at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
“It is not as easy to test for LDL, rather than total blood cholesterol levels, including "good" HDL. An LDL test requires fasting for the previous eight hours, "and if you are not prepared for this test, it is not going to be correct. But testing someone and then not informing that person of a dangerously high LDL cholesterol level is not easy to explain.” Kuklina said.
 
The report, however, has not defined high LDL. A disturbing revelation was that the greatest incidence of dangerously high LDL cholesterol is in the high-risk group. The high LDL did increase in that specific group.
 
Dr. Thomas A. Gaziano, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and co-author of an accompanying editorial said, “It's important to remember that LDL cholesterol is just one of many risk factors for cardiovascular disease."