Cholesterol numbers indicate the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream. Total cholesterol numbers over 240 mg/dL are high. While knowing your total cholesterol numbers is helpful, it's also important to know your LDL and HDL cholesterol numbers. Your ideal LDL cholesterol numbers may be different from someone else's based on your risk factors for heart disease.
Cholesterol Numbers: An Introduction
Knowing your
cholesterol numbers is vital to understanding your potential risk for
heart disease. Because
high cholesterol does not cause noticeable symptoms, the only way you can know if your cholesterol is too high is to get your cholesterol numbers checked.
There are a number of different
cholesterol tests available today, and each can be slightly different in what they measure. For example, some home cholesterol tests will only provide you with total cholesterol numbers. Another
cholesterol test, called a lipid profile or lipid panel, will measure several things, including:
What Do Total Cholesterol Numbers Measure?
Total cholesterol numbers (as the name implies) measure the total amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream.
Total cholesterol numbers combine levels for HDL, LDL, and another type of cholesterol known as
VLDL, or very low density lipoprotein.
Total cholesterol numbers can be misleading because a person can have healthy total cholesterol numbers and still have low HDL numbers or high LDL numbers. Therefore, most
cholesterol treatment decisions are based on HDL and LDL cholesterol numbers, not total cholesterol numbers. Therefore, it's best to consider total cholesterol numbers as an overview of your cholesterol level.
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