How To Diagnose High Cholesterol — Are You At Risk?

How To Diagnose High Cholesterol — Are You At Risk?

Unfortunately, most people aren’t even aware they have atherosclerosis due to cholesterol until they have a heart attack or stroke.  It is possible to have up to 80 percent closure of the arteries without ever feeling a single symptom!

To diagnose high cholesterol levels require a simple blood test to determine the levels of LDL and HDL. 

Cholesterol tests can be tricky, however. 

Simple screening that is done without “fasting,” measures only the total cholesterol and the HDL, the “good” cholesterol.   It will give you a ballpark figure, but far from accurate.

The complete test is called a “lipid profile,” and even that can vary from test to test.  This test will measure total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides.

Okay, now that you have accurate numbers, what do they mean? 

Before we discuss the numbers and their meanings, we need to clarify some terminology.

Dietary cholesterol means the cholesterol that you eat.  The American Heart Association recommends no more than 300 milligram per day.  Most food labels in the United States list cholesterol. 

The three terms, blood cholesterol, serum cholesterol and total cholesterol mean the same thing – the total cholesterol in your body.  This is what is measured when you have a cholesterol test.

Your test results will come in with three numbers:
1.    HDL Cholesterol
2.    LDL Cholesterol
3.    Total Cholesterol

Triglyceride levels over 400 milligrams/dl are considered “high” and levels over 1,000 milligrams/dl are considered “very high.”

For LDL, the desirable level is less than 130 milligrams/dl.  The “borderline high” level is 130 to 159.  The “high risk” level is 160 and above.

Higher is better for HDL.  For HDL, the numbers are lower because there is less HDL in the blood.  Anything lower than 35 milligrams/dl is considered “high risk.”  If your HDL is very high, say over 60, your risk of heart disease is reduced.