How to Calculate Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a chemical substance that is essential for the metabolism of the human body. However, high cholesterol levels in the blood can increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease and strokes. Cholesterol is transported through the blood by three lipoproteins: the low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol), the high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ("good" cholesterol) and low density lipoproteins (VLDL), also called triglycerides. The cholesterol number is the sum of all cholesterol components.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

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Instructions

• 1

  Obtain blood test results from your physician or a health center. Cholesterol data are reported in milligrams per 100 milliliters (1 deciliter) of blood, denoted as "mg/dL."

• 2

  Look for the LDL cholesterol value in the report. This is the "bad" cholesterol level. For example, let's say LDL equals 115 mg/dL.

• 3

  Find the HDL cholesterol value; that is your "good" cholesterol. For example, let's say HDL is 90 mg/dL.

• 4

  Divide a triglyceride value (abbreviated as "Trig") from the report by 5 to obtain the VLDL number. For instance, if the triglyceride value is 200 mg/dL, then VLDL is 40 (200/5) mg/dL.

• 5

  Sum up the values from Steps 2 through 4 to calculate the cholesterol number. In our example, the cholesterol total is equal to 115 + 90 + 40, which is 245 mg/dL.

• 6

  Browse to the American Heart Association Web page and compare the cholesterol number with those listed under "Total cholesterol level" to see how it is classified. In this example, the cholesterol number of 245 mg/dL falls into the high category.