Cholesterol Numbers and Blood Tests
People with high cholesterol almost never experience any symptoms of it, so the condition can remain unnoticed for years. It’s more likely to have high blood cholesterol because of family history of this condition, but your lifestyle can also contribute.
It’s generally recommended to everyone older than 20 to have cholesterol check every 5 years. There is a special cholesterol blood test called lipoprotein profile, aimed at providing the patient with important cholesterol numbers. Your lipoprotein profile is ready after nine to twelve hours and gives the following information:
• Total cholesterol level: includes information on the amount of cholesterol in the blood. The higher this number is, the bigger risk there is of developing heart disease.
The level of less than 200 mg/dL is desirable, as it significantly lowers your risk of developing heart disease. If the number is 200 mg/dL or more, the risk of heart disease increases.
The borderline high level is 200–239 mg/dL.
If the patient has the level of 240 mg/dL or higher, it puts him or her at risk of developing heart disease twice as high as for someone whose level is below 200 mg/dL.
• LDL cholesterol (Low-density lipoprotein) is considered to be bad, and you can find out its amount from some blood tests. It is not soluble in water and blood, so it travels inside the blood stream in special packages (lipoproteins). Lipoproteins are also made of protein and other substances that make it possible for them to travel in the bloodstream. Most cholesterol is transported in LDLs, so it becomes the cause of blood vessels blockage, resulting in such conditions as angina and heart disease.
The best amount of LDL cholesterol is less than 100 mg/dL.
The optimal level is 100–129 mg/dL.
The borderline high level is 130–159 mg/dL.
The level of 160–189 mg/dL is considered high.
The level of 190 mg/dL and above is very high and dangerous.
• HDL cholesterol (High-density lipoprotein) is considered to be good. Cholesterol is carried through the bloodstream in HDLs back to the liver and then eliminated from the body. Therefore, HDLs help prevent cholesterol from blocking the blood arteries. The following HDL cholesterol numbers are to be considered:
The amount of cholesterol less than 40 mg/dL is one of the risk factors for heart disease.
40–59 mg/dL is considered to be better.
60 mg/dL and above is thought to protect you against heart disease.
• Triglycerides are types of fat; they travel through your blood stream and get stored in fat tissue. Blood tests usually show only a small amount of triglycerides in the bloodstream, but when the level is higher, it’s not necessarily a risk factor for heart disease. However, high amounts of triglycerides combined with cholesterol can cause atherosclerosis. High levels of triglyceride usually come along with other risk factors, such as low HDL, which altogether contributes to the development of heart disease risk.
150 mg/dL is the normal level of triglycerides.
150–199 mg/dL is borderline high.
200–499 mg/dL is considered high.
500 mg/dL or above is considered very high.
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