at what levels it is advisable to take medicine ? what are the side effects of medicine ? can these be controlled naturally by exercise or by changing food habits ?
In mmol/L, the ranges are as follows:
Triglycerides 0.4-2 mmol/L
Total cholesterol 3-5.0 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol (male) 0.7-1.9 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol (female) 0.9-2.4 mmol/L
LDL cholesterol 2.4-3 mmol/L
Here's a detailed link:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol/atglance.htm
Your physician can best determine when and whether it's advisable for you to take medication. Basically all the medications used for hyperlipidemia have side effects. Statins that are used in the treatment of high LDL have one set of side effects (e.g. Atorvastatin), whilst Niacin which is used in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia has an entirely different side effect profile. In short, it depends on what the physican is trying to treat as there are a number of agents, with varying mechanisms of action and varying adverse effects.