LDL Recommendations from the American College of Cardiology

In August of 2022, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) released an Expert Consensus Decision Pathway with new guidance for lowering LDL cholesterol.

An Expert Consensus Decision Pathway is a guiding tool for medical professionals. They are developed as new data and treatments are available, but definitive outcome studies are still happening.

This latest announcement involves the role of non-statin therapies in lowering LDL cholesterol. The ACC offers new LDL thresholds for different groups of people:

• For people without heart disease, the LDL safe range is less than 100 mg/dL.
• For those who have already experienced a heart attack or stroke, the safe range is less than 70 mg/dL.
• For people at very high risk, like those with heart disease and Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) or high Lipoprotein(a), the safe range is less than 55 mg/dL.

The Family Heart Foundation is excited about this announcement. We continue to follow the science as it proves that lower LDL for longer greatly reduces heart attacks and cardiac death. We are hopeful this new recommendation will result in better care for more families and more hearts.