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What Is The Normal Range For Hdl Cholesterol

What Affects My Cholesterol Levels

Heart Health : What Is the Normal Range for Cholesterol?

A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are some things you can do to lower your cholesterol levels:

  • Diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat make your blood cholesterol level rise. Saturated fat is the main problem, but cholesterol in foods also matters. Reducing the amount of saturated fat in your diet helps lower your blood cholesterol level. Foods that have high levels of saturated fats include some meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods.
  • Weight. Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase your cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It also raises your HDL cholesterol level.
  • Physical Activity. Not being physically active is a risk factor for heart disease. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.
  • Smoking.Cigarette smoking lowers your HDL cholesterol. HDL helps to remove bad cholesterol from your arteries. So a lower HDL can contribute to a higher level of bad cholesterol.

Things outside of your control that can also affect cholesterol levels include:

What Is Being Tested

High-density lipoprotein is one of the classes of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol in the blood. HDL-C consists primarily of protein with a small amount of cholesterol. It is considered to be beneficial because it removes excess cholesterol from tissues and carries it to the liver for removal. HDL cholesterol is often called “good” cholesterol. The test for HDL cholesterol measures the amount of HDL-C in blood.

High levels of cholesterol have been shown to be associated with the development of hardening of the arteries and heart disease. When cholesterol levels in the blood increase and not enough is removed by HDL, it may be deposited in the walls of blood vessels. These deposits, called plaques, can build up, causing vessel walls to become more rigid, and may eventually narrow the openings of blood vessels, constricting the flow of blood.

A higher level of blood HDL-C is usually associated with a lower risk of developing plaques, lowering the risk of heart attack or stroke.

How Is An Hdl Cholesterol Test Different From A Lipid Panel

A lipid panel always includes a measurement of HDL cholesterol, but HDL cholesterol levels can be tested without doing a full lipid panel.

A standard lipid panel measures total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. It then uses those measurements to calculate the amount of LDL cholesterol.

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Healthy Cholesterol Levels In Australia

Normal cholesterol range in Australia. High cholesterol carries no signs or symptoms, and youll need a blood test to diagnose it. As a guide, health authorities recommend cholesterol levels should be no higher than 5.5 mmol per litre if there are no other risk factors present, or LDL levels less than 2 mmol/l for those who smoke, have high blood pressure or pre

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A Guide to Healthy Cholesterol

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Medicines To Lower Your Cholesterol Level

Medicines called statins are most often used to lower cholesterol levels. There are other cholesterol-lowering medicines that your doctor might prescribe, like resins, fibrates, and niacin. If you need to take a medicine to lower your cholesterol level, your doctor will help you find the one that works best for you.

Estrogen replacement therapy lowers your bad cholesterol level and raises your good cholesterol level. However, studies have not shown that it lowers the risk of heart disease.

Fasting Before A Lipid Test

Although a lipid test can be done with or without fasting, you are more likely to get accurate results by fasting, especially if your triglycerides are going to be measured. This means you can have nothing but water for nine to 12 hours before the test.

Once your lipid levels are calculated, a simple mathematical calculation is used to determine your non-HDL levels.

Non-HDL-C is calculated by subtracting total cholesterol from HDL cholesterol. Total cholesterol is made up of triglycerides plus the combination of cholesterol from atherogenic lipoproteins which includes LDL, VLDL, IDL , and lipoprotein-a cholesterol.

Optimal non-HDL levels are below 130 mg/dL for both adult men and women.

Optimal HDL levels are 40 mg/dL for adult men and 50 mg/dL for adult women. Levels below this increase your risk of heart disease.

Optimum triglyceride levels are below 150 mg/dL. Triglyceride levels above 200 mg/dL are especially concerning, as studies show this greatly increases an individuals risk of developing atherosclerosis and heart disease.

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Ldl Cholesterol: ‘bad’ Cholesterol

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, often referred to as “bad” cholesterol, is the type that tends to deposit on the walls of the arteries. White blood cells combine with the LDL cholesterol, forming artery-narrowing plaque, which restricts blood flow. The optimal level of LDL cholesterol for most people is 100 mg/dL or lower. If you have heart disease, you may need to strive for LDL levels of 70 mg/dL or lower.

Other Lipid Panel Components

Recommended Cholesterol Levels

Your test results might also include additional measurements:

  • Non-HDL cholesterol: The number reflects your total cholesterol minus HDL.
  • Very-low-density lipoprotein : Itâs similar to LDL cholesterol, but while low-density lipoproteins mostly carry cholesterol to your tissues, very-low-density lipoproteins transport triglycerides.

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How Is High Cholesterol Treated

There are several ways to lower high blood cholesterol , including lifestyle changes or medication, or both. Your healthcare provider will work with you to determine which therapy is best for you.

Lifestyle modifications

Healthcare providers like to start with the least invasive treatments when possible, such as lifestyle changes. Youll be advised to:

  • Avoid tobacco. If you do smoke, quit. Smoking is bad for you in many ways, and reducing your level of good cholesterol is one of them.
  • Change the way you eat. Limit the number of trans fats and saturated fat. Eat heart-healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish and whole grains. Limit red meat, sugary products and dairy products made with whole milk.
  • Get more exercise. Try to get about 150 minutes of physical activity every week, or about 30 minutes per day for most days of the week.
  • Keep a healthy weight. If you need to lose weight, talk to your healthcare provider about safe ways to do this. Youll see results even before you reach your ideal weight. Losing even 10% of your body weight makes a difference in your cholesterol levels.
  • Reduce the effect of negative emotions. Learn healthy ways to deal with anger, stress or other negative emotions.
  • Control blood sugar and blood pressure. Make sure you follow your healthcare providers instructions for blood sugar levels, especially if you have diabetes, and for keeping blood pressure in the healthy range.

Medications

  • Atorvastatin .
  • Simvastatin .
  • Pitavastatin .

Are Test Results Accurate

HDL cholesterol testing is extremely common and frequently used to evaluate cardiovascular risk. Like any test, though, HDL cholesterol tests are not perfectly accurate. Certain factors that can influence accuracy of any single test include:

  • Individual variability: There can be some differences in HDL cholesterol levels based on individual factors like stress or posture during the test. Minor variation can also occur between laboratories.
  • Acute illness: Levels of cholesterol in the blood are affected by inflammation, so infections or other illnesses that produce inflammation may interfere with the accuracy of HDL cholesterol tests.
  • Certain blood disorders: Some conditions that affect blood cells cause an increase in a type of protein, known as an M protein, in the blood. In people with these conditions, HDL cholesterol tests may show a lower level of HDL cholesterol than is actually present in their blood.

Point-of-care and at-home tests that use a fingerstick blood sample are nearly as accurate as laboratory testing, but there may be more variability in accuracy based on the brand and the quality of its test.

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How Is An Hdl Cholesterol Test Different From A Low

An HDL cholesterol test and LDL cholesterol test measure different types of cholesterol. The two types of cholesterol are transported in the blood in distinct kinds of particles.

In common descriptions, HDL cholesterol is known as good cholesterol while LDL cholesterol is bad cholesterol. The amount of HDL cholesterol compared to LDL cholesterol can be an important consideration in cardiovascular health.

Measuring HDL cholesterol is more straightforward than measuring LDL cholesterol. For this reason, levels of LDL cholesterol are most often calculated using a formula based on levels of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. In some situations, though, a doctor may prescribe a direct LDL test.

How To Lower Your Cholesterol

Cholesterol Levels Chart Women

If youve been told that you have high cholesterol or you just want to prevent it what can you do?

There are several ways to manage it, including:

Medication: Depending on your overall cardiovascular disease risk, you might be treated with a cholesterol-lowering medication, such as a statin. The decision to use a statin is based on a womans overall risk for heart attack and stroke including all these factors and the LDL cholesterol value.

If you already have vascular disease or evidence of atherosclerosis, or if you are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, a statin for prevention is strongly recommended because this treats the plaque in the arteries, and lowers LDL cholesterol, Michos says.

Diet and lifestyle:Diet and lifestyle are very important to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Even for women who are recommended to take cholesterol-lowering medications, a healthy lifestyle helps these drugs work better, says Michos.

Heres how to maintain a lifestyle that promotes healthy cholesterol levels:

Add these to your shopping list:

  • Fatty fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines and albacore tuna
  • Nuts, including walnuts, pecans, almonds and hazelnuts
  • Olive oil to drizzle lightly over your salads and vegetables

While nobody wants to have high cholesterol, there are plenty of ways to keep it in check. With regular checkups and attention to what you eat, its possible to manage your cholesterol and blood fats to keep your heart healthy, says Michos.

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Measuring Hdl Concentration And Sizes

As technology has reduced costs and clinical trials have continued to demonstrate the importance of HDL, methods for directly measuring HDL concentrations and size at lower costs have become more widely available and increasingly regarded as important for assessing individual risk for progressive arterial disease and treatment methods.

Making Sense Of Cholesterol Tests

HDL cholesterol. HDL wins its laurels as the “good” cholesterol because it sponges up cholesterol from blood vessel walls and ferries it to the liver for disposal. In contrast, LDL deposits the harmful fat in vessel walls. An HDL level of 60 or above is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, and below 40 is associated with a higher risk.

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What Does The Test Measure

An HDL cholesterol test analyzes a sample of blood to see how much cholesterol is present within high-density lipoprotein particles. Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is important for basic cell function. Cholesterol is transported through the body in the blood within lipoproteins, which are made up of fat and protein.

There are multiple kinds of lipoproteins that can carry cholesterol including high-density lipoproteins, low-density lipoproteins , and very low-density lipoproteins .

Cholesterol in LDL and VLDL particles can build up in the arteries and cause cardiovascular problems. In contrast, HDL particles transport cholesterol to the liver so that it can be eliminated from the body. Through this and other functions, HDL cholesterol helps protect against hardening and blockages of the arteries.

In practice, virtually all HDL cholesterol tests also measure total cholesterol, which is the sum of cholesterol found in all the different kinds of lipoproteins. By subtracting HDL cholesterol from total cholesterol, the doctor can determine the amount of non-HDL cholesterol that is present. In addition, tests like a lipid panel use a mathematical formula to calculate the amount of LDL cholesterol in your blood sample.

Hdl Cholesterol: How To Boost Your ‘good’ Cholesterol

Lipid profile test normal range | Normal cholesterol levels

In terms of diet, try to avoid trans fats, as they can increase LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol levels. Foods prepared with shortening, such as cakes and cookies, often contain trans fats, as do most fried foods and some margarines. Limit saturated fat, found in meats and full-fat dairy products, as well.

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The Triglyceride/hdl Cholesterol Ratio

Many studies have found that the triglyceride/HDL cholesterol ratio correlates strongly with the incidence and extent of coronary artery disease. This relationship is true both for men and women. One study found that a TG/HDL-C ratio above 4 was the most powerful independent predictor of developing coronary artery disease.

If Cholesterol Is Necessary Why Do We Have To Worry About How Much We Have

Having enough cholesterol to meet your needs is important. Having too much cholesterol can cause problems. If your cholesterol levels are high, the condition is called hypercholesterolemia. If your cholesterol levels are low, the condition is called hypocholesterolemia. It is not common to have cholesterol levels that are too low, but it can happen.

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What Cholesterol Levels Mean And Why They Matter

HDL Cholesterol Levels Normal Range

If you or loved ones have high cholesterol, you probably already know itâs a cause for concern. The levels of cholesterol in your blood are linked to a risk for cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes. But even if your cholesterol levels are normal, you need to be mindful of what cholesterol is and what you can do to keep your numbers in a healthy range.

Thankfully, finding out your cholesterol level is a relatively painless process. And once you know those numbers, you can better adjust your lifestyle and medications to improve your health.

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Which Cholesterol Is Good Hdl Or Ldl

The optimal ratio is between 3.5 and 1. A higher ratio increases the risk of heart disease. Keeping this in view, what is a good number for HDL cholesterol? Typically, doctors recommend an HDL level of 60 milligrams per deciliter of blood or higher. HDL that falls within the range of 40 to 59 mg/dL is normal, but could be higher

Can Bad Cholesterol Levels Be Too Low Can Good Cholesterol Levels Be Too High

It isnt often that people have bad cholesterol that is too low or good cholesterol that is too high. There are studies being done that suggest that extremes of any kind are not healthy for everyone.

Even though there is no clear-cut number about what LDL level is too low, levels under 40 mg/dL may be associated with certain health issues, including depression/anxiety, and hemorrhagic stroke.

However, there is data from clinical trials to support that there is no evidence of harm when LDLs remain < 40mg/dl on statin therapy.

In some cases, genetic conditions can cause you to have very low cholesterol levels. In other cases, nutritional problems, some cancers, hypothyroidism and certain infections can also cause low cholesterol levels. In any of these types of situations, the underlying issues need to be addressed.

In terms of having too much of a good thing, researchers are studying the effects of too much HDL, the good cholesterol. No conclusions have been reached, but there have been studies into the possible relationship between high HDL and cancer, and a greater risk of heart attack among the high risk. Excessively high HDL may be dysfunctional HDL and not protective.

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What Complications Are Possible If You Dont Treat High Cholesterol Levels In Your Blood

The main reason to treat high cholesterol is to prevent or treat coronary heart disease , also called coronary artery disease or CAD. CHD happens when heart is not able to get enough oxygen-rich blood to function well and kills more people in the U.S. than any other cause of death. CHD usually refers to the large arteries, but there is also a condition called coronary microvascular disease that affects the small vessels and causes damage.

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