Cholesterol Numbers

Important Cholesterol numbers, LDL Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, Cholesterol Risk Ratio and Serum Triglycerides levels.

Cholesterol Total
Description	mmol/l	(mg/dl)

Normal	< 5.1	< 200
Medium high	5.1 - 6.1	200-239
High	> 6.1	> 239

HDL Cholesterol (Desirable)
Description	mmol/l	(mg/dl)

Low (Bad)	< 1.0	< 40
High (Good)	> 1.5	> 60

LDL Cholesterol (Undesirable)
Description	mmol/l	(mg/dl)

Normal	< 2.6	< 100
Acceptable	2.6-3.3	100-129
Medium High	3.3-4.1	130-159
High	4.1-4.8	160-189
Very High	> 4.8	> 189

Serum Triglycerides
Description	mmol/l	(mg/dl)

Normal	1.7	< 150
Medium High	1.7-2.2	150-199
High	2.2-5.6	200-499
Very High	> 5.6	> 499

Cholesterol Risk Ratio:

Generally a Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is used. It is much easier and also cheaper to obtain Total Cholesterol value than LDL cholesterol.

The following are the Cholesterol Risk Ratio values:

Normal Levels: < 3.5 (less than 3.5)
Average Levels: 4.5
High: > 5.0 (larger than 5.0)

These values are slightly lower for women.

A combination of high Triglyceride level (common fat in human body) with high LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) ; or with low level of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) will contribute to increased build-up of fat in arteries.
This results in increased risk of stroke and heart attack.