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High cholesterol can be treated several different ways. A combination of the following may be the most effective for you.

Lifestyle Changes

Living a healthier life -- following a cholesterol-lowering diet; getting regular, vigorous physical activity; quitting smoking; and managing your weight -- is perhaps the most important thing you can do to keep your cholesterol in check:

• National Heart Lung Blood Institute: Lowering Cholesterol with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)
• Mayoclinic.com: High Blood Cholesterol - Lifestyle and home remedies

Medication

Cholesterol-lowering drugs, especially statins, are often used together with lifestyle changes:

• American Heart Association: Cholesterol-lowering drugs
• American Heart Association: Medicine Chart (to help track your medication)

Possible Treatment Side Effects

The lifestyle changes above don't carry any risk of side effects, but all drugs come with that possibility. Talk to your doctor about what you can expect from any cholesterol-lowering medication you're taking, as well as any possible interactions with other prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, supplements or herbal medicine:

American Heart Association: Side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs

New Therapies

Increasing rates of obesity, even among the young, mean there are more children with high cholesterol, necessitating the need to treat them as well:

• Kidshealth.org: Cholesterol and Your Child
• American Heart Association: Children and Cholesterol

Holistic Treatments

• Mayoclinic.com: High Blood Cholesterol - Alternative Medicine
• The Cleveland Clinic: Complementary/alternative therapies for cholesterol reduction

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