As you get older, keeping an eye of various aspects of your health becomes more important. Your cholesterol levels can be a major factor in your overall health, and high levels of cholesterol can place you at higher risk for developing heart disease or suffering a heart attack. When you get tested for your cholesterol levels, the results come back in the form of a cholesterol report. This presents you with a series of numbers that can be impossible to understand if you don't know their significance.
Step 1
Identify the different numbers. Your cholesterol report typically has five numbers: total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. They are often listed in this order.
Step 2
Find the number for your total cholesterol. If you have a number higher than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl), then you have high cholesterol that is getting into dangerous territory.
Step 3
Identify the total triglycerides. Compare this number to the recommended healthy limit, which is normally around 150 mg/dl. Anything below this is a safe level.
Step 4
Check you high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which is considered healthy cholesterol. Unlike the other numbers listed on your cholesterol report, you want HDL cholesterol to be above a specific number, rather than below it. You ideally want more than 40 mg/dl.
Step 5
Check your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is the most important number on your report. You want an LDL cholesterol number below 130 mg/dl.
Step 6
Examine your total cholesterol ratio, which measures how much good cholesterol you have against how much bad cholesterol is in your bloodstream. Any ratio of 3:1 or lower is healthy.
