The longer and more your arteries are exposed to bad cholesterol (LDL), the more likely you are to develop heart disease because that cholesterol builds up over time and can lead to heart attacks or strokes.

Keeping your 'bad' cholesterol low for a long time helps slow down the buildup of gunk in your arteries and lowers your chances of having heart attacks or strokes later in life.

Chronic exposure to elevated LDL particles is causally associated with increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease through endothelial infiltration and initiation of arterial inflammation.

If you're a middle-aged person with symptoms, having higher 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) means you're more likely to have heart problems over the next four years — but only if scans show you already have plaque in your heart arteries.

Tracking your bad cholesterol levels over many years — not just once — gives doctors a better idea of your real risk for having a heart attack or stroke right now.

For people who already have heart disease, aiming to get their 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) below 55 mg/dL cuts their risk of serious heart problems by about one-third over three years compared to aiming for below 70 mg/dL — and it doesn’t seem to cause more side effects.