Cholesterol drugs: Do you need them, or not?

Many doctors and patients were surprised last November when two major medical groups upended one central element of the traditional approach to warding off heart disease. With the release of new guidelines, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology shifted away from the prior focus on “bad cholesterol”—and proposed changes to the way doctors prescribe statins, the highly successful cholesterol-fighting medications.

The guidelines recommend a more holistic approach, but some critics said they could greatly increase the number of patients taking statin medication.