The body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells, but too much cholesterol is not healthy. Cholesterol is a waxy substance in the fats or lipids in blood. High cholesterol promotes fatty deposits in blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits may decrease blood flow to the heart or brain and increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Lowering high cholesterol is important for everyone, men and women, regardless of age. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, everyone above age 20 should have their cholesterol measured every five years because it's important to keep cholesterol levels within a healthy range.
Identification
Doctors monitor the concentration of LDL and HDL cholesterol by analyzing a sample of blood with a lab test called a lipoprotein profile. This test requires a 9 to 12 hour fast and provides information about total cholesterol, LDL or bad cholesterol, HDL or good cholesterol and triglycerides.
History
Recommendations for the detection and treatment of high cholesterol, referred to as the adult treatment panel, were first published as part of the National Cholesterol Education Program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health in 1988. This report, ATP I, was updated as ATP II in 1993. ATP III was published in 2002 and updated in 2004.
Significance
High cholesterol has no symptoms, so people are often unaware that they have high cholesterol. It's important to track your cholesterol numbers because high blood cholesterol levels reflect a risk of heart disease or heart attack. Every year, more than a million Americans have a heart attack and about half a million Americans die from heart disease, the number one killer of both women and men in the U.S., according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Benefits
The benefit of knowing your HDL and LDL cholesterol numbers is that you can begin taking actions to reduce your risk of heart disease. Steps to maintaining a normal cholesterol level include eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, not smoking, treating high cholesterol with medications if prescribed and monitoring blood cholesterol by taking periodic blood lipid profile tests.
Interpreting Cholesterol Numbers
The Centers for Disease Control provides guidance for interpretation of blood lipid profile results for total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides. A desirable range for total cholesterol is less than 200 mg per deciliter; borderline high is 200 to 239 mg per deciliter and above 240 mg per deciliter is high.
LDL or low density lipoprotein at high levels can lead to a buildup of plaque in the arteries and result in heart disease. Lower numbers are better for LDL. An optimal level is less than 100 mg per deciliter; near optimal is 100 to 129 mg per deciliter; borderline high includes 130 to 159 mg per deciliter; a high level is 160 to 189 mg per deciliter; and a very high level is above 190 mg LDL per deciliter of blood.
HDL, called good cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by carrying cholesterol back to the liver to be recycled or discarded as waste. An HDL level less than 40 mg per deciliter is low and a level of 60 mg per deciliter or higher is high. Higher numbers are better for HDL.
Triglycerides, fats in the blood, are also measured as part of total cholesterol. Below 150 mg per deciliter is desirable; 150 to 199 mg per deciliter is borderline high; 200 to 499 mg per deciliter is high; and above 500 mg per deciliter of blood is very high.
