How to Measure Total Cholesterol

High cholesterol, also known as hypercholesterolemia, puts people at risk for a number of life threatening conditions, including heart attack, coronary heart disease, and stroke. High cholesterol can also accompany liver and kidney disease and diabetes. The severity of these threats led to the Adult Treatment Panel III recommendation that everyone age twenty and over be tested every five years. Cholesterol tests are performed by drawing blood from a vein followed by a laboratory performing a lipid profile.

Things You'll Need

• Appointment for blood test
• Lipid profile results

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Instructions

• 1

  Attend your appointment to have blood drawn. The blood samples will be tested and a lipid profile will be created from the results. Get a copy of your test results.

• 2

  Look at your lipid profile. Find and record the data on your HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, Triglycerides, and Lp(a) cholesterol. The numbers will be shown on the report as milligrams per deciliter or (mg/dL). Add the (mg/dL) numbers together. This number is your total cholesterol and should ideally be 200 mg/dL or lower.

• 3

  HDL is referred to as "good" cholesterol and should ideally be 40 mg/dL or higher for men, and 50 mg/dL for women.

• 4

  Ideal LDL levels are determined by other health risk factors, such as diabetes and existing heart disease. People at low risk of heart disease should look for an LDL of 60 mg/dL or less, while those at high risk should look for 100 mg/dL or less.