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Patient Instructions

Your body needs cholesterol to work properly. When you have extra cholesterol in your blood, it builds up inside the walls of your arteries (blood vessels), including the ones that go to your heart. This buildup is called plaque.

Plaque narrows your arteries and slows or stops the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack, stroke, or other serious heart disease.

Below are some questions you may want to ask your doctor or nurse to help you take care of your cholesterol.

What is my cholesterol level? What should my cholesterol level be?

• What are HDL ("good") cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol?
• Does my cholesterol need to be better?
• How often should I have my cholesterol checked?

What medicines am I taking to treat high cholesterol?

• Do they have any side effects?
• What should I do if I miss a dose?
• Are there foods, other medicines, vitamins, or herbal supplements that may change how well my cholesterol medicines work?

What is a heart-healthy diet?

• What are low-fat foods?
• What types of fat are okay for me to eat?
• How can I read a food label to know how much fat there is?
• Is it ever okay to eat something that is not heart healthy?
• What are some ways to eat healthy when I go to a restaurant? Can I ever go to a fast-food restaurant again?
• Do I need to limit how much salt I use? Can I use other spices to make my food taste good?
• Is it okay to drink any alcohol?

What can I do to stop smoking?

Should I start an exercise program?

• Is it safe for me to exercise on my own?
• Where should I exercise, inside or outside?
• Which activities are better to start with?
• Are there activities or exercises that are not safe for me?
• Can I exercise most days?
• How long and how hard can I exercise?
• What symptoms may I need to watch out for?

Hyperlipidemia - what to ask your doctor; What to ask your doctor about cholesterol

Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.