About a quarter of Americans take cholesterol-lowering drugs. But the number could shoot up based on new 
Instead of focusing on the level of your “bad cholesterol,” or low-density lipoproteins (LDL), doctors are being urged to calculate your chances of having a heart attack and stroke. They should think about your age, weight, blood pressure and other factors like if you smoke or have diabetes. Under the recommendations, a person with a moderate risk of heart attack or stroke would be put on a statin, even if their LDL score is low.
That could mean prescribing statins to 33 million Americans.
So how do you know if you’re at risk of a heart attack or stroke?
The American Heart Association has a handy calculator. It looks at your blood pressure, smoking and diabetes status, weight and physical activity. And it says it’s a good measure for anyone over age 20 who doesn’t already have heart disease or diabetes.
And check out the Cleveland Clinic’s stroke risk calculator, which includes some of the same measures.