Average Cholesterol Level For US Adults Reaches Recommended Range

The averagecholesterol level for U.S. adults last year decreased to 199 and reached therecommended range for the first time in almost 50 years, according to a reportreleased by CDC on Wednesday, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

The report uses data collected by CDC every two years. For the latest report,CDC examined data on cholesterol levels for a nationally representative sampleof about 4,500 U.S.residents ages 20 and older from 2005 to 2006. According to the report, thepercentage of adults with high cholesterol -- levels of 240 or higher --decreased to 16% last year, compared with about 20% in the early 1990s.

The report said that the most significant decreases in cholesterol levels last year occurred in men ages 40 and older andwomen ages 60 and older. Experts in large part attributed the decreases incholesterol levels among adults to increased use of anti-cholesterolmedications (Stobbe, AP/Long Island Newsday, 12/13).

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