One look at Eric Koegel and you'd never guess he's a candidate for heart disease. He's young, eats right and is in relatively good shape. So what's the problem; Cholesterol.

"I was surprised that for my age I had higher than expected cholesterol," said Koegel.

At least Eric got a check. Millions of Americans don't. And that could spell trouble. Internist Dr. Mark Oberlies:

"There's an estimate of 105 million U.S. adults who have cholesterol levels that are higher than recommended. So think about that 105 million. That's one in three adults. It might not be a big emergency or anything, but it's higher than what is recommended," said Dr. Oberlies.

What is recommended? Well a total cholesterol of 200 used to be the cut off. But Doctor Oberlies says the number alone doesn't mean much.

"We're probably not hammering that number home to a lot of people because for example if your good cholesterol, your HDL  level, is very high, your total cholesterol level will be very high. But that might not necessarily be a bad thing," said Dr. Oberlies.

Dr. Oberlies recommends that anyone over the age of 20 should at least have a cholesterol screening. If it's normal, you can safely wait 5 years. People like Eric will have to be checked more frequently.

Find out more about Dr. Mark Oberlies, Internal Medicine.

"I was glad that I caught it early though, that the Doctor caught it early," said Koegel.

Eric is on medicine now. If he can continue to eat right and exercise, his little problem with cholesterol shouldn't turn into a big one.