You can reduce your risk for heart attack, kidney disease, Alzheimer's disease and other medical conditions by maintaining a good LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio. More than 102 million American adults had high blood cholesterol in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and 35 million of them had levels high enough to put them at significant risk for cardiovascular disease.
Calculation
Cholesterol tests assess a person's risk for heart disease. Some health professionals like to use a ratio of LDL to HDL to predict this risk. A ratio over 3 to 1 shows an above-average risk for heart disease, according to the Iowa State University Extension. If your LDL is 150 mg/dL and your HDL is 50 mg/dL, then your LDL to HDL ratio is 3:1.
Risks
A poor LDL to HDL ratio can be unhealthy. Insufficient HDL causes excessive cholesterol in the blood. Excess cholesterol builds up in the bloodstream, accumulating along the inside walls of blood vessels. Accumulated cholesterol and other fatty substances form plaque. This accumulation can cause inflammation and injury to the vessels. Plaque can interfere with the way blood flows through the veins. Plaque may rupture from the arteries and cause a blood clot, which can partially or completely block blood flow to vital organs, like the muscles of the heart, brain or kidneys. A good LDL to HDL ratio reduces excess cholesterol and the blockages it may cause.
Anatomy
A good LDL to HDL ratio indicates a healthy balance of cholesterol in the bloodstream. Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that does not dissolve into the watery plasma of blood. The body overcomes this by packaging cholesterol onto special lipoproteins that have a coating that allows them to flow through blood. There are several classes of lipoproteins, categorized by density. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, carries cholesterol from the gut to the cells of the body via the bloodstream. HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, scrapes excess cholesterol from arterial walls and then transports it back to the liver, where it is processed and eliminated with other body wastes.
Treatment
You can restore your LDL to HDL ratio to healthy proportions by eating a nutritious diet, increasing exercise and making some changes to your lifestyle, like quitting smoking. Avoid eating saturated fat and cholesterol to reduce your LDL. Eat plenty of soluble fiber, like oatmeal and bananas. Eat fish like salmon and mackerel once to twice a week. These fish contain omega-3 fatty acids, which benefit HDL. If these natural methods do not lower your LDL and raise your HDL, your doctor may prescribe medications like niacin, fibrates and statins.
Testing
The only way to find out if you have a good LDL to HDL ratio is to have your blood tested. Cholesterol screens are available at your doctor's office or medical laboratory, health fair or even with a home testing kit. You can eat and drink normally before measuring LDL to HDL ratios unless otherwise directed.
