The aim of treating high cholesterol is to lower the amount of bad (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood, and raise the amount of good (HDL) cholesterol. Adjusting the levels in this way reduces your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

You'll have to have your blood lipids measured at least twice before any kind of treatment is started, to make sure the numbers are correct. And your doctor will also need to know whether there are any other things that increase your risk of heart disease, such as whether you have high blood pressure or whether other people in your family have heart disease. Things like these are called risk factors.

To learn whether or not you need treatment for high cholesterol, see What will happen to me?

To learn about what your test results should be when you are taking treatment for high cholesterol, see Targets for treatment.

Key points about treating high cholesterol

• All the treatments we cover here can help to bring down your cholesterol. But when researchers look at the effects of a treatment for high cholesterol they want to see if it reduces the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. We have ranked treatments here according to how well they work to reduce your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

• Drugs called statins are the best way to reduce levels of bad cholesterol and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

• Drugs called fibrates can also help bring down your triglycerides, but they don't reduce your risk of heart disease as much as statins. They’re not used much any more.

• Changing your diet, to one where you eat more fruit and vegetables and switch to healthier fats, can also help reduce bad (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides.

• You may need a combination of approaches to bring down your cholesterol. For example, you may take a statin drug and make changes to your diet.

• People at greatest risk of heart disease benefit the most from reducing their levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides.

Which treatments work best?

We've carefully weighed up the research and divided the treatments into categories depending on how well they work. You can find out more about each treatment by clicking on the links below.

For help in deciding which treatment is best for you, see How to use research to support your treatment decisions.

We've split them into treatments for people who already have heart disease, and treatments for people without heart disease.

• Treatments for people who already have heart disease: This means you have high cholesterol and also a problem like angina or have had a heart attack.

• Treatments for people without heart disease: This means you have high cholesterol, but no signs that it has damaged your heart yet.