New National Institutes of Health guidelines for more aggressive treatment of high cholesterol include:

_Increasing the number of people using cholesterol-lowering drugs. If the guidelines are followed, this number would rise from about 13 million to 36 million.

_Intensifying use of diet, physical activity and weight control to lower blood cholesterol. This is done in a program that the NIH calls Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes.

_Adding diabetes to the conditions indicating an increased risk of heart disease.

_Using a lipoprotein profile as a first test in screening for high cholesterol. The current first test is a more general cholesterol screen.

_Setting 40 milligrams per deciliter as the point at which blood levels of the "good" HDL cholesterol are considered too low. Current guidelines put this at 35 mg.

_Setting an "optimal" limit of 100 mg of the bad LDL cholesterol, with a listing of 130-159 mg of LDL as borderline high, 160 mg as high and 190 mg as very high.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

APTV 05-15-01 1352MDT