New lipid management guidelines developed by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology published on March 13, 2026, providing new clinical best practices for monitoring and managing high blood cholesterol and other lipid disorders—crucial risk factors for heart disease.
The lipid guidelines replace previous guidelines established in 2018, and include more precise methods to predict the risk of heart disease and determine the best preventative measures, especially for younger patients. “This is a really big improvement that’s going to be helpful for younger people to understand their cardiovascular risk and what they can do to prevent heart disease 20 or 30 years down the road,” says Tanya Wilcox, MD, general cardiologist at U of U Health.
Wilcox is available to provide an expert perspective on the new guidelines. She has clinical expertise in preventative cardiology and lipidology, is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and echocardiography, and is a board certified lipid specialist.
The updated guidelines integrate important recent advances to help people get evidence-based care, Wilcox says. “Especially in a field like cardiology, we’re constantly doing research and learning more and developing new therapies. In this day and age, specifically, we have a lot of new interventions that can help people improve their cardiovascular health, including alternatives to statin medications.”
Wilcox emphasizes that high blood cholesterol and other metabolic concerns are a risk factor for heart disease even in young people. “It’s not a single time in your life when cholesterol is affecting you—it’s your whole lifetime. So if you’re at elevated risk for heart disease, it’s important to know, so you can start making some changes earlier in your life to improve your metabolic and cardiovascular health.”
