What are desirable cholesterol blood levels?
Since no “normal” cholesterol levels have been established, doctors rely on “desirable cholesterol levels” in making treatment recommendations. However, the “desirable” levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol have been moving targets; they have been steadily declining over the years as more and more controlled trials have demonstrated that the risk of heart attacks and strokes can be reduced further with lower LDL cholesterol levels. In 1985, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health gathered a panel of cholesterol experts to form the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP). This expert panel reviewed data mainly from large controlled cholesterol-lowering trials, and published their blood cholesterol treatment recommendations in two separate reports; one published in May, 2001, the other in June, 2004. The NECP report published in May 2001 is called the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III). This report included desirable anv
