Monitoring cholesterol and other factors should be done regularly to prevent cardiovascular disease, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Management of blood cholesterol is a major factor in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, as reflected in new guidelines released by the American College of Cardiology, and it should start early in life and be monitored throughout the lifespan. Johns Hopkins cardiologist Roger Blumenthal, chair of the committee that wrote the new guidelines, emphasizes that cholesterol levels are just one part of the picture.

Blumenthal: At each medical visit the clinician and the patient should talk about strategies to improve their dietary and exercise habits. That's really the foundation of prevention. I think it's important especially as we get older to realize that if there's things that we can do from a proactive standpoint, be aware of our blood pressure, be aware of our cholesterol numbers or blood sugar we should do that and we have a long track record with cholesterol lowering medication and the judicious use of medicine is important but what's even more important is to try to motivate people to improve their dietary and exercise habits throughout the lifespan.            :30

Blumenthal notes that prevention and recognition of emerging health issues is key to staving off more serious problems. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.