Cholesterol

When a doctor assesses your cholesterol levels, he or she will perform a blood test that will show an array of elements that make up the total cholesterol in your blood. However, the doctor may also look at the cholesterol ratios to determine your risk for heart disease and other heart-related health issues. The basic numbers from the test, in addition to the ratios, shape an important picture for the doctor to assess your cholesterol situation.

Your total cholesterol levels are made up of several elements, included in the test called a lipid panel. First, there is low density lipoprotein, or LDL. LDL is considered the “bad” type of cholesterol. Next, the test will show the levels of HDL, or high density lipoprotein. HDL is the “good” cholesterol and has benefits to the body. The test will also demonstrate the amount of triglycerides contained in your blood.

The doctor may look at the raw numbers and determine that you are maintaining a desirable cholesterol level, borderline risk or high risk level. A treatment plan with changes in diet and exercise may be considered to help the issue. Though, in addition to the raw numbers, the doctor may analyze several cholesterol ratios.

The ratios don’t say how much or how little of each type of cholesterol you have in your system, but they are clues to your risk of heart disease. The three ratios a doctor may review are: Total/HDL; LDL/HDL and HDL/LDL.

To determine the total/HDL ratio, you divide the HDL cholesterol into the total cholesterol. For instance, if you have a total cholesterol of 150 mg/ and an HDL level of 40, your total ratio would be 3.75:1. Many doctors consider a desirable ratio to be below 3.5:1. However, the American Heart Association disagrees that the total ratio is a proper indicator of heart disease risk. The organization says using absolute numbers instead of the ratio is more effective. There are differing opinions on this matter, depending on the doctor and practice’s philosophies. The same argument surrounds the next ratio, the LDL/HDL ratio.

Next, the doctor might look at the LDL/HDL ratio. This ratio might be addressed to understand a patient’s risk of developing heart disease. The ratio simply looks at the relationship between bad and good cholesterol. The ideal LDL/HDL ratio is 2.5:1 or under, though if you are keeping it under 3.5:1, that’s excellent.

Doctors may look at the reverse of the prior ratio and analyze the ratio of good to bad cholesterol in an HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio. Ideally, you should maintain a ratio above .3 of HDL/LDL and further more than .4 is optimal. Again, some doctors and medical organizations prefer to look at absolute numbers to make proper assessments about cholesterol levels, not using the ratios.

The use of ratios is not meant to dictate whether you are retaining an unhealthy or healthy level of cholesterol. The complex relationship between the different elements that make up cholesterol makes determining risk for heart disease a complicated matter. That is why some doctors may consider ratios to also assess your risk of heart disease and other health related issues. They will look at your HDL and LDL levels, and consider for instance, your family medical history, your weight, diet and lifestyle. Determining what’s a healthy level for you may not be the case for the next person, who perhaps as a history of heart disease in his family and smokes regularly. The doctor will make each decision individually based both on the numbers and your unique make-up.