13% of US adults have high cholesterol

In 2011-12, an estimated 13 percent of U.S. adults ages 20 and older had high total cholesterol, unchanged from 2009-10, officials say. Margaret D. Carroll, Dr. Brian K. Kit, Dr. David A. Lacher and Sung Sug "Sarah" Yoon of the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found 11.1 percent of men and 14.4 percent of women had high total cholesterol, unchanged since 2009-10. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults -- 67 percent of men and nearly 72 percent of women -- had been screened for cholesterol, unchanged since 2009-10, the study said. Approximately 17 percent of adults -- about a quarter of men and less than 10 percent of women had low high-density lipoprotein, the "good," cholesterol, during 2011-12, while the percentage of adults with low HDL cholesterol has decreased 20 percent since 2009-10. High levels of total cholesterol and low levels of HDL high-density lipoprotein are risk factors for coronary heart disease. To identify those who might be at risk for developing coronary heart disease, adults are advised to have their cholesterol checked at least once every five years. A previous study reported declining trends in the percentage of adults with high total cholesterol during 1999-10. Non-Hispanic black adults had consistently lower percentages with high total cholesterol at 9.8 percent overall, 7.4 percent for men, and 11.5 percent for women, than non-Hispanic white adults at 13.5 percent overall, 11.6 percent for men and 15.2 percent for women. The percentage with high total cholesterol was also lower for non-Hispanic black adults overall at 9.8 percent than for Hispanic adults overall at 14.2 percent and for men at 7.4 percent non-Hispanic black and 14.2 percent Hispanic, but not for women.