A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that almost half of the US population that are at high risk of getting heart attack due to increased level of cholesterol do not take proper medications to lower the risk.

According to experts, high cholesterol is linked to strong risk of getting cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for one in three deaths in the United States. Cholesterol-lowering treatment generally with a low-cost statin medication has been linked to lower down the rates of heart attack and stroke.

The gaps observed by the CDC in the cholesterol treatment were far higher among minorities in the United States than among white Americans.

As per the data, African Americans most likely to have health conditions that make them perfect candidates for cholesterol-lowering medications. It was found that 39.5% of American blacks are considered eligible for such treatment, and 54% of the eligible US blacks were not taking any cholesterol lowering medications.

On the other hand, 38.4% of white Americans were eligible for such drugs, and 42% of that group took no cholesterol-lowering medications, finds study. The study found that adult women were more eligible to take prescription cholesterol drugs than eligible men with 58.6% versus 53.9% respectively.

Experts said that side-effects of cholesterol-lowering medications keep patients away from taking such medications. Almost 800,000 people every year die in the United States due to cardiovascular disease, which makes strokes and heart disease the largest killer of Americans.