Question Title: bad cholesterol

Dear R.D., thank you for your question. As you correctly stated, the LDL cholesterol is bad and the HDL cholesterol is good. Exercise and a low fat, low cholesterol diet are the best "natural" ways to improve your cholesterol profile. There are now powerful medications called statins (mevacor, lipitor, zocor, pravachol, lescol) that markedly reduce the LDL cholesterol. Large-scale clinical trials have shown that statins reduce heart attacks and death in patients who have elevated LDL levels and risk factors for coronary disease (hypertension, family history of coronary disease, smoking, diabetes). Generally, the LDL should be below 130 mg/dl in patients without documented coronary disease and below 100 in patients with known coronary disease. The HDL should be > 45 mg/dl and confers a protective benefit on patients. Most medications don't dramatically increase HDL levels. Women have higher HDL levels than men before menopause because of estrogen and estrogen replacement therapy after menopause can maintain the elevated HDL levels.

I hope you find this information useful. Please write back with additional questions. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Specific diagnoses and therapies can only be supplied by your physician.