Narrator: This is Science Today. A new study has found people with heart disease benefit more from current cholesterol guidelines than those without heart disease. Dr. Lee Goldman, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco says that's because those with existing heart disease are at higher risk and the cholesterol guidelines are more aggressive for them than the rest of the population.

Goldman: The first thing the study will do is get the guideline writers upset because they will fear that as a result, people without heart disease will not follow the guidelines and doctors will not pay attention to the guidelines.

Narrator: But Goldman says that's not the intent of the paper.

Goldman: What it really says is that in terms of keeping people alive, adding years of life or even quality years of life, that the principle focus should be on people that already have evidence of heart disease or who are at very, very high risk for it. Our paper really emphasizes that in secondary prevention, you not only get the most bang for the buck - you get the most bang.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.