How To Measure Cholesterol Levels

Cholesterol is a natural waxy substance created by the liver that circulates through the blood to maintain healthy cell membranes. Elevated levels of ldl increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Cholesterol Test Purpose Procedure And Results

It depends on the maker of the kits.

How to measure cholesterol levels. More frequent monitoring is also needed for all those who already have one or more risk factors for atherosclerosis. A blood test called a lipoprotein panel can measure your cholesterol levels. High density lipoproteins hdls help remove cholesterol from your body so the are considered good for the body.

Everyone knows that high cholesterol is bad. Your doctor can use it to measure the amount of good and bad cholesterol and triglycerides a type of fat in. The number refers to milligrams of cholesterol in a deciliter of blood mgdl.

Your cholesterol level will be provided as a concentration of cholesterol in your blood. A complete cholesterol test is also called a lipid panel or lipid profile. Many cholesterol home test kits advertise that they are greater than 95 accurate.

It also helps build hormones and vitamins in the body. In addition to measuring the total cholesterol in your. Low density lipoproteins ldls on the other hand contribute.

But thats a myth. Measuring cholesterol levels every 5 years or even more frequently is a good precaution measure. How to calculate cholesterol ratio.

A routine blood cholesterol test is a far better way of finding out what your cholesterol level is. In fact there are two types of cholesterol to look out for. What does a cholesterol test measure.

Before the test youll need to fast not eat or drink anything but water for 9 to 12 hours. Total cholesterol is made up of ldl cholesterol hdl cholesterol and vldl cholesterol. The lab may omit the unit of measurement on your results but this is to what the numbers refer.

Ldl cholesterol is the so called bad cholesterol because it deposits on the inside of your vessels to make plaques. A desirable level of total cholesterol is less than 200. The reliability of cholesterol home tests varies and the results can fluctuate.

Total cholesterol a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood. The test gives information about your.

Making Sense Of Cholesterol Tests Harvard Health