Your blood cholesterol levels provide your physician with information about your cardiovascular health. Based on your cholesterol, your doctor can tell whether you're at risk for certain diseases, including cardiovascular disease and stroke. A normal HDL and high LDL indicates a higher risk for cardiovascular disease than if you had a low LDL.
Cholesterol
Your HDL and LDL levels, both of which are types of blood cholesterol, provide specific information about your risk status. LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein, though it's often called "bad cholesterol" in colloquial terms. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein and is often called "good cholesterol." The American Heart Association recommends that your LDL levels be as low as possible -- ideally below 100 mg/dL -- for optimal health. Your HDL levels should be as high as possible, ideally above 60 mg/dL.
Misconceptions
Colloquialisms aside, HDL and LDL are not different types of cholesterol. Instead, they're cholesterol transporters that carry cholesterol in different directions, says Dr. Lauralee Sherwood in her book "Human Physiology." LDL carries cholesterol from the liver toward the body cells for uptake, while HDL carries cholesterol from the body cells toward the liver for excretion. Since cholesterol buildup leads to heart disease, this is why HDL is more heart-healthy than LDL.
Your Levels
If you have high LDL, but your HDL isn't particularly high, you're in a higher risk category for cardiovascular disease than you would be if your LDL were lower or your HDL were higher. Ideally, you'd have low LDL and high HDL. Your cholesterol levels could be the result of several different things. You might have a genetic predisposition to high LDL, says Sherwood, which a family history can help you determine. Alternately, dietary or lifestyle factors could play a role.
Prevention/Solution
To lower your LDL and raise your HDL, your doctor may recommend lifestyle and dietary changes. While there are pharmaceutical drugs available for altering cholesterol levels, most physicians don't prescribe these unless a patient's cholesterol is quite abnormal. Eating less saturated and trans -- or processed -- fat helps reduce LDL. Getting plenty of exercise -- at least 30 minutes three times a week -- increases HDL and reduces LDL, according to the American Heart Association.
Expert Insight
There is also some evidence that individuals who consume a moderate amount of alcohol -- one drink per day for women and one to two drinks per day for men -- have lower LDL and higher HDL levels. A 2000 study in the scholarly journal Circulation says that alcohol consumption alters production of cholesterol transporters and can help positively shift blood cholesterol levels in individuals who have high LDL or low HDL.
References
- American Heart Association: Cholesterol
- "Human Physiology"; Lauralee Sherwood, Ph.D.; 2004
- "Circulation"; Alcohol Consumption Raises HDL Cholesterol Levels by Increasing the Transport Rate of Apolipoproteins A-I and A-II; E. De Oliviera e Silva et al; 2000
