People who manage to control both their high cholesterol and high blood pressure may cut their risk of developing heart disease by 50% or more, scientists have found.

However, less than one in three people manage to achieve this, they warned.

The scientists from the US analysed data on over 17,000 adults who undertook regular health surveys over a 22-year period. Their blood pressure and cholesterol levels were also checked and a number of factors were taken into account, such as age, gender, whether they smoked, whether they had diabetes and if they visited their doctor at least once a year.

The scientists noted that previous studies had found that treating high cholesterol can reduce a person's risk of developing heart disease by 35%, while treating high blood pressure reduces the risk by 25%. However, it was unclear the impact treating these two conditions together could have.

The scientists found that controlling both high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure could reduce the risk of heart disease by half or even more.

"The reality is, we know more than enough to prevent 75% of heart disease and strokes, but we're not doing everything we could be doing or even doing it at a reasonable level. We've made some gradual improvements over the years, but there is still a lot of progress to be made," commented lead scientist, Dr Brent Egan, of the Medical University of South Carolina.

He warned that cholesterol readings need particular attention because if people have a high amount of ‘good' (HDL) cholesterol in their body, then the ‘bad' (LDL) cholesterol reading ‘might get overlooked'.

"Unfortunately, not all HDL is equally protective and some people with a normal HDL are at high risk. In those patients, there might be a false sense of assurance that cholesterol really isn't a problem.

"But LDL and non-HDL readings are the ones to really watch. Patients seeing their doctors for blood pressure treatment should ask about their LDL and non-HDL levels and make sure both are under control at the same time," Dr Egan said.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Circulation.

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