High cholesterol has become a concern for an increasing number of people, partly due to the increasing commonness of risk factors for the condition, such as obesity and insufficient physical activity. Almost half of the adults in the United States are approaching a high level of total cholesterol as of 2010, Children's Hospital Boston notes, and about 15 percent have already passed that mark.
Significance of Fats in the Blood
The abbreviations HDL and LDL stand for high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein, two kinds of cholesterol. Both are a type of fat located in your blood, as is the substance called triglyceride. Your body produces all three fats, but they can also enter your system through the foods you consume, the National Institutes of Health explains. Although your body requires a certain amount of each fat to function well, excess amounts can increase your likelihood of acquiring various health problems, particularly heart disease.
Determining Levels of Blood Fat
A lipid profile or lipid panel is a basic blood test designed to measure the amount of certain fats in your blood. The test usually provides information about HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as the total amount of cholesterol, expressed in units of milligrams per deciliter of blood, or mg/dL for short. To complete the test, health care professionals draw a sample of blood from a vein after patients have avoided consuming anything but water for about nine to 12 hours.
Good HDL Cholesterol
Often referred to as good cholesterol, HDL cholesterol is beneficial because it removes harmful cholesterol from your bloodstream. Consequently, the dangerous form of cholesterol is less able to accumulate inside your blood vessels and damage them. The higher your level of HDL cholesterol, the better, Children's Hospital Boston points out, and a level above 60 mg/dL is generally best, according to the Mayo Clinic. Your level of HDL cholesterol is poor if you are a woman and it is below 50 mg/dL, or if you are a man and it is below 40 mg/dL.
Bad LDL Cholesterol and Triglycerides
Harmful blood fat includes LDL cholesterol, or bad cholesterol, and triglycerides. LDL cholesterol can build up in arteries and slowly cause them to become narrower and rigid, putting you at greater risk of restricted blood flow and related conditions, including a stroke or heart attack. Triglycerides comprise a large amount of your fat tissue, and your body converts excess calories you eat to triglycerides before storing the substance in fat cells. The less LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood, the better, the National Institutes of Health notes.
An optimum level of LDL cholesterol is below 130 mg/dL for people in good health, the Mayo Clinic states, but 100 mg/dL or lower for those at risk of developing heart disease. A level above 190 mg/dL is dangerously high, and a triglycerides level above 500 mg/dL is alarming also. The best triglycerides level is under 150 mg/dL.
Role of VLDL Cholesterol
Very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or VLDL cholesterol, is a less well-known kind of blood fat that can contribute to health problems, too. Although cholesterol tests typically do not measure VLDL cholesterol, it is closely associated with both LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. VLDL cholesterol not only contains more triglycerides than any other type of lipoprotein, but it also enlarges LDL cholesterol, which increases LDL cholesterol's ability to make blood vessels narrower, the Mayo Clinic explains. A normal level of VLDL cholesterol is 40 mg/dL or lower.
