New NCEP cholesterol management guidelines recommend lower LDL treatment goals

A newly released update to the National Cholesterol Education Program's (NCEP) guidelines on cholesterol management recommend that clinicians consider more intensive treatment options for patients at high and moderately high risk for heart attack. These evidence-based recommendations include setting lower treatment goals for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and initiating cholesterol-lowering drug therapy at lower LDL thresholds.